Organized by DefSec Innovation Hub in co-operation with NATO ACT Innovation Hub, the NATO Innovation Challenge Pitch Day and Award Ceremony took place on Thursday 30 May 2019 as part of the International Defence and Security Technologies Fair (IDET) in Brno, Czech Republic.

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The 2019 NATO Innovation Challenge took place under the auspices of Major General Jaromír Zůna, First Deputy of the General Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic, and Vojtěch Petráček, Rector of the Czech Technical University in Prague.

DefSec Innovation Hub had the pleasure of organising the NATO Innovation Challenge 2019/1 event, this time with the topic of creating solutions for the prevention, mitigation of and recovery from Electromagnetic Pulse. Registrations for attendants were open until the 28th of April, and the pitch day and award ceremony took place on the 30th of May in Brno, the Czech Republic.

Seven finalists took part in the pitch day and presented their solutions addressing the dangers of electromagnetic pulse either in person or over teleconference before a committee comprised of both military and industry experts. And as the winners of this innovation challenge, the committee selected the US company Electronics Service (ES) Ltd. More information about the attendants of the pitch day can be found at the official NATO ACT Innovation Hub website and the NATO ACT IH Facebook page.

Following the pitch and winner announcement, the event was concluded with an award ceremony held in co-operation with the Czech Armed Forces at their show booth at the IDET fair and the proverbial reigns for the organisation of the next innovation challenge were given over to Hungary’s col. Csaba Szarka. Good luck!

The DefSec Innovation Hub was proud to continue in its ambitious plans set out for 2019 with this successful event and a is looking forward to a number of other events planned out for the rest of 2019, including a set of innovation workshops.

Event partners: