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Innovation for place-based transformations

Dual Use & Defence Innovation Leveraging Regional Industrial Development

REGDUALOSA is an Exploratory Research Activity to understand how regional innovation policies can effectively leverage the dual-use and defence industry, fostering development while contributing to the EU's Open Strategic Autonomy.

Defense - Eurosatory (France)

Objectives

The main objectives of REGDUALOSA are:

  • Exploring the relationship between regional development and the historic defence industry in Europe.
  • Identifying European Capabilities in key technologies: Focus on three crucial STEP areas/technologies: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), Space, and Cyberdefence. We aim to map and analyse Europe's capabilities in these sociotechnical systems  to support territorial innovation and technological sovereignty  
  • Understanding Financial Mechanisms: Identify the roles of different funding mechanisms such as European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund, European Defence Fund, Horizon Europe, and InvestEU in financing the defence industry. This will help to understand how synergies can be implemented, for example in the Seal of Sovereignty, proposed in STEP regulation   
  • Analysing Industrial Dual Use/Defence Regional Ecosystems policies, taking into account the complexities of multilevel governance.  
  • Generating evidence for policy recommendations for Future Frameworks:  Multiannual Financial Framework (MFP) post-2027, national and regional policies.  

Duration

The REGDUALOSA initiave will last for one year, from the 1st of March 2024 to the 28th of February 2025.  

Partners

The Consejería de Política Industrial y Energía is the department of the Junta de Andalucía in charge of the autonomous competences regarding industrial, mining and energy activities, as well as economic cooperation and the promotion of initiatives and actions in these fields.

The main responsibility of the Marshal Office of the Podkarpackie region is to support the activities of the Board, the executive body of the region, the regional parliament and the Marshal. Its main activitiest encompass the preparation of regional development strategy, and development and implementation of regional policy measures.

The Department of National Cyber Security manages, organises and coordinates nationwide cyber security both domestically and internationally, develops the relevant policies and development plans and monitor their implementation and performance, lead initiatives and prepare draft legislation regulating the area.

Key outputs

1. Survey and REGDUALOSA Panel Report 

  • Results of the survey carried out in the European regions and of the consultations and interviews with the REGDUALOSA panel of voluntary regions.

2. STEP Technologies:  Aerial Drones,  Space and Cybersecurity  

  • Analysis of the European sociotechnical innovation systems for three STEP technologies identified as critical in the European Defence Gap Analysis: Space, Cybersecurity, and UAVs. 

3.  Defence and Dual-Use Industrial Projects Funding Analysis

  • Analysis of the funding landscape for defence and dual-use industrial projects. 

4. Synergies Exploration Methodology

  • Development of a methodology for exploring synergies between various defence and innovation sectors. 

5.Regional Case Studies

  • Andalucía (Spain), Podkarpadkie (Poland) and Estonia.

6.JRC Technical Report and Academic Papers

  • Publication of a JRC technical report providing evidence-based policy recommendations.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions:

Key references

  • Coordinated annual review on defence 2024: Approved by Ministers of Defence on 19 November, the 2024 CARD report comes at a critical moment when defence policy and cooperation are at the top of the EU’s political agenda. Accordingly, it includes actionable collaborative opportunities to enable faster convergence between Member States and the launch of new projects.
  • Niinistö report: Former President of Finland Sauli Niinistö presents recommendations to enhance Europe's civilian and defence preparedness and readiness in a volatile geopolitical landscape.
  • EDA Action plan for autonomous systems: Member States tasked the European Defence Agency to develop a comprehensive Action Plan on Autonomous Systems (APAS), to accelerate the development of highly effective, efficient, and reliable autonomous systems for land, air, maritime, and cross-domain operations.
  • Draghi report: The report looks at the challenges faced by the industry and companies in the Single Market. Draghi believes the EU can strengthen its defence and space industries, enhancing its strategic autonomy and global competitiveness in these critical sector
  • Net-Zero Industry Act: The Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) creates a regulatory framework to boost the competitiveness of EU industry and technologies crucial for decarbonisation.
  • Addressing the regional dimension of open strategic autonomy and European green industrial policy: We explore the regional implications of the policy concepts of open strategic autonomy and technology sovereignty, examining how those policies may impact and interact with industrial development and the socio-economic and -ecological transformation of regions.
  • The European Defence Industrial Strategy: The Commission and the High Representative, in coordination with the European Defence Agency, present the first-ever European Defence Industrial Strategy (EDIS), that sets a vision for the European defence industrial policy until 2035.
  • Advancing European economic security: an introduction to five new initiatives: Communication from the European Commission to the Parliament about Advancing European economic security: an introduction to five new initiatives
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