New NATO regional innovation office to be located in Halifax Regional Municipality | SaltWire

A new NATO defence innovation accelerator office will be located in Halifax Regional Municipality, it was announced Friday.

“This groundbreaking initiative will bring together NATO personnel, together with Canadian industry, innovators, academics and researchers to solve technological challenges facing our transAtlantic security,” Defence Minister Anita Anand, a native of Nova Scotia, said at HMC Dockyard in Halifax.

Anand made the announcement amid gusting winds and a temperature dipping to zero on the Jetty November Juliet, midway between the docked HMCS Harry DeWolf and HMCS Margaret Brooke, Royal Canadian Arctic patrol ships built in Halifax.

“DIANA will bring together the best, the brightest minds from our public and private sectors and act as a catalyst for home-grown research and innovation and it will enable close collaboration with NATO’s best as we sharpen our technological edge through development in artificial intelligence, big data processing, quantum-enabled technologies and biotechnology,” Anand said, referring to the acronym for Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA).

“DIANA will harness the depth of Canadian expertise and help Canada and her Allies, and together with our NATO allies, we’re going to enhance the strength and resilience of key industrial capabilities, cyber and telecom networks, supply chains and critical infrastructure,” said Anand, an Ontario MP who was born and raised in Kentville and lived in Nova Scotia until she was 18.

The allied leaders in June approved a charter for the office in the North Atlantic and the government of Canada’s offer to host the office in Halifax Regional Municipality was considered by the NATO DIANA board.

The exact HRM location for the office has not been determined but the office is expected to be fully operational by 2025.

“Let me tell you as someone born and bred here what is so special and important about this area,” Anand said.  

“Halifax is home to over 3,000 startups in science and technology, it is home to seven universities, three community college campuses, multiple private career colleges within the regional municipality,” Anand said. 

“The city is also home to Canada’s Atlantic naval fleet, as you can see right here on the jetty today and it is Canada’s largest military base in terms of personnel. What we have today is a marriage between a thriving innovation sector and a strong armed forces presence, which makes Halifax an ideal location for DIANA.

The minister said Defence Research and Development Canada also has facilities in Halifax.

“As someone who has a background in academics from right here in Nova Scotia, I especially appreciate the important of this initiative to the regional economy and to our country. To our Canadian researchers, to our scholars, to our tech innovators here in Nova Scotia and right across our country, DIANA is an opportunity to leverage our best in class, our home-grown expertise and our talent to solve critical defence and security challenges, to grow our research and innovation sector.”

Melanie Nadeau, CEO of COVE, an innovation centre and global tech hub located in Halifax, said in a statement that the new office is an exciting opportunity.

“The Halifax region is home to Canadian Armed Forces, private, public, and post-secondary organizations driving research, development, and commercialization,” said Nadeau, who was in attendance for the defence minister’s announcement.

“At COVE, we are central to the innovation ecosystem and are home to and supporting leading Canadian and global innovators who operate in the water, on land, in the air, and via satellite, including global defence companies, universities, and (research and development) organizations,” Nadeau said.

“Halifax has everything innovators and operational end users need to foster a transatlantic ecosystem supporting dual-use groundbreaking innovation in deep technologies. We look forward to assisting and working with NATO and National Defence personnel on the next steps to establish the regional office.”

Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of the military committee of NATO, called Canada an “esteemed ally.”

Bauer, a navy officer from the Netherlands, said the world and NATO are facing “an increasingly complex and unpredictable security environment.”

He said the world is changing and NATO must unite and adapt, “unite not only countries but also business with academia, private with public, old with new, experience with innovation and adapt to the rapid changes in technology.”

Bauer said one of the reasons that Ukrainian forces have been able to push back the Russian invasion is their clever use of technology.

“Help has come both from Ukraine’s well-developed tech sector as well as from big and small international players,” Bauer said. “A few months ago when we thought of a company like Microsoft or Starlink, we thought of laptops or satellites. Now we think of them as companies that help win the war.”

Bauer said NATO is redoubling its efforts to stay at the forefront of technology and to do so, it has to join forces with technology experts and thought leaders.

He said NATO is launching the DIANA office in the North Atlantic, along with a NATO innovation fund, a multinational venture capital fund backed by 22 allies and a billion euros.

“This is not about building new missiles or tanks, this is about capturing the power of innovative ecosystems across the alliance, primarily gearing towards deep-deck startups.”

At the podium Friday, Anand was joined by a virtual Nova Scotia caucus meeting of federal Liberals.

From the jetty, the minister moved on to the nearby Westin Nova Scotian hotel to open the three-day 2022 Halifax International Security Forum, where she joined defence ministers from a dozen European countries, the U.S. secretary of defence and military leaders for a gathering dedicated to strengthening strategic co-operation among democratic nations.

The DIANA office in Halifax will work collaboratively with the European regional office in London and it will co-ordinate the work of accelerators and test centres throughout North America.

The office is expected to bring tangible benefits to Canadian industry and the defence technology sector by encouraging participation from Canadian companies, existing accelerators, and academic and research institutions.