A new EDA project aimed at the development of a media and technology monitoring system for EDA was launched with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission on March 23rd, 2017. This initiative represents a continuation of previous EDA Technology Watch activities and projects and has the purpose to increase access to high quality defence technology information for the Agency and its stakeholders.
This new capability will help EDA provide better support to the activities of Member States as well as those foreseen under the Preparatory Action for Defence Research and the future European Defence Research Programme. Having a systematic understanding of evolving technical trends and their effect on future European defence capabilities, both long and short term, is of great significance for EDA’s work. The Technology Watch activity is providing one of the inputs for the EDA CapTechs process of technology identification.
The objective of this new project is to develop customized versions of JRC’s monitoring and data analysis tools adapted to the needs of defence. The modules identified in JRC’s tools have been assessed as crucial for understanding the state-of-the-art technologies relevant for the defence sector and their evolution. The new system will provide both media and technology monitoring components, use diverse information sources and offers a combination of search methods. Furthermore, JRC’s instruments give the possibility to identify in real-time tendencies in specific domains. This is especially important in the current context of fast-paced technological development and can represent a strategic advantage for the European defence community.
The outputs from the monitoring systems can serve as background information to be used in the assessment and prioritization phases of defence R&T planning, essential for the development of the CapTechs Strategic Research Agendas. These activities will also support the dual-use link with the Long-term strand of the Capability Development Plan (CDP), EC Key Enabling Technologies (KETs), for short and medium term applications, and with the EC Future Emerging Technologies (FET), for forward looking technologies and applications.
The kick-off meeting between EDA and JRC took place on 23 March 2017 at the EDA in Brussels.
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