Senior European officials, defence experts, and industry representatives gathered in Kraków on 14 May for the European Defence Innovation Days. Drawing over 1,000 delegates from across Europe, the biannual forum is an initiative of the European Defence Agency (EDA), with support from the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU in this third edition. Attendees also included military personnel, as well as researchers and investors from across Europe.
Newly appointed EDA Chief Executive André Denk opened the three-day gathering by stressing that the European Defence Innovation Days was not just a conference but a platform to “connect and match bold ideas with bold action.”
“In an era of great power competition and rapid technological advances — where speed often means strategic advantage — we cannot afford to fall behind,” Denk said. “The reason we are gathered here is one: to accelerate capability-driven innovation, ensuring that the best ideas don’t get stuck in the lab, but are translated into capabilities,” he said.
The defence community must break down silos, connect the military with innovators, bridge the gap between the public and private sectors, cultivate a defence innovation mindset, and inspire cross-generational collaboration, delegates said.
“We need to adapt to the changing environment,” said Marcin Gorka, Director of the Department of Innovation at Poland’s Ministry of National Defence. “The way we are developing capabilities ... is very static. We need to be able to change from talking about our specific requirements to talking about the operational challenges we need to address.”
The event showcased Ukraine as a case study in rapid innovation under extreme conditions, with the participation in Krakow of Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defence Valerii Churkin.
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Ukraine's advantage has not just been in the technology it has reduced, but in its ability to regularly outpace Russia in the innovation cycle, said Kaja Kallas, Head of the European Defence Agency, in her role as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. “Ukraine's experience underlines what you can do when you get everyone working together,” Kallas said during a video message to the conference.
The event also aims to underscore EDA’s own role in fostering innovation. HEDI — the Hub for EU Defence Innovation — is the Agency’s platform to ensure ideas can become deployable capabilities. The European Defence Innovation Days features a live exhibition with almost 90 stands. Highlights include mock-ups of soon-to-launch satellites and Ukrainian combat robotics. There are two new features this year: a competition known as a makethon for Unmanned Ground Vehicles, and a start-up pitching competition, offering €10,000 and €15,000 prizes, respectively.