Defence Tech Day

21 May 2025 | Brussels, Belgium

Home
InfoREGISTERHow it worksFAQ

Defence Tech Day

21 May 2025|


Brussels, Belgium

Welcome to the Defence Tech Demo Day 2025

The Local Defence Demo Day is a key event where NATO DIANA innovators from the Belgian and Dutch accelerators will showcase their cutting-edge technologies. As part of the 2025 accelerator program, these teams have been hard at work on their innovations and are eager to present their solutions to leading industry figures, investors, and policymakers. This flagship event brings together defence stakeholders from both nations, making it a must-attend milestone in the NATO DIANA program.

>>>> Book your spot for a one-on-one meeting with the DIANA INNOVATORS now <<<<

The Event

✅ Discover cutting-edge defence technologies from 2025 NATO DIANA innovators.

✅ Connect with top industry leaders, investors, and defence officials.

✅ Explore cross-border collaboration between Belgium, the Netherlands, and NATO allies.

✅ Hear from high-level speakers shaping the future of defence innovation.

✅ Meet the next generation of dual-use startups – ready to scale and deploy..

Agenda

13:00 – 13:10 | 👋 Welcome & Introduction – by WSL & The Gate

13:10 – 13:40 | 🎙️ Keynote Addresses – NATO, Belgian & Dutch Ministries of Defence, Industry Leaders

13:40 – 13:50 | 🧠 Setting the Scene – Contextual insights by a leading defense journalist

13:50 – 14:15 | 🚀 Startup Pitch Session #1 – Fast-paced innovations from DIANA startups

14:15 – 14:45 | 💬 Panel Discussion – Leveraging Startups to Accelerate Technological Adoption in Defence

14:45 – 15:15 | ☕ Coffee Break – Time to recharge & connect

15:15 – 15:45 | 💰 Panel Discussion – Strategic Investment in Defence Tech

15:45 – 16:05 | 🚀 Startup Pitch Session #2 – More disruptive solutions on stage

16:05 – 16:15 | 🎯 Closing Remarks – by WSL & The Gate, invitation to matchmaking

16:15 – 18:00 | 🤝 Startup Tour & Networking – Informal matchmaking & startup booth visits

Confirmed Speakers

Prof.Dr.ir. Frank Gielen

Prof.Dr.ir. Gielen has extensive experience with R&D in the telecommunication and software technology sector as well as in raising venture capital, university-industry collaborative research and spin-off creation.

Prof.Dr.ir. Gielen held a number of technical and management positions in the software industry. He started as a software architect with AT&T Bell Labs in the USA and was director of software technology at Alcatel.

In 1998 he joined Tellium, a US based start-up company in optical network technology, as the VP of Software Engineering. Tellium had a successful IPO on NASDAQ in 2001. He then returned to Europe in 2001 as the CEO for Tellium EMEA.

From 2010 to 2015 he was the Director of the Incubation & Entrepreneurship at iMinds, the leading digital incubator and business accelerator in Flanders. The iStart incubation programme of iMinds was ranked number 4 in UBI’s global ranking of university accelerators in 2015.

Prof.Dr.ir. Gielen was head of the EIT Digital Professional School with the ambition to lead the innovation of professional development and executive education for companies, organisations and individuals going through a digital transformation.

Since 2017 he has been the Education Director at InnoEnergy.

Currently he is also a professor of software technology entrepreneurship at the University of Ghent.

Agnès Flémal

Stephan Rutten - Lobster Robotics

Belinda Smeenk - Dutch Armed Forces

  • Belinda Smeenk is Staff advisor Strategy Knowledge & Innovation at the Royal Netherland Army (RNLA). She is working at the RNLA staff, in the Directorate Plans, for 17 years now.

  • Before that she was Operational Analyst (OA) for the Army at TNO Research for Defence and security for 10 years, and has been sent on mission to Afghanistan in 2006. She has studied Operations Research at the university of Tilburg.

  • In her role at the RNLA staff she is the main planner for the strategic ambition and innovation roadmaps for the RNLA. She is coordinating European Defence Fund Development actions en international development initiatives for long term innovation, but also stimulating the short term innovation through technology development, experimentation and implementation.

Organizers

For questions please reach out to: