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Over 600 registered for the Industry Outreach Conference: European Defence Fund: Ministry Priorities

Over 600 registered for the Industry Outreach Conference: European Defence Fund: Ministry Priorities

The conference, organised by the Joint Staff (EMACON) and the Directorate General of Armament and Materiel (DGAM), in partnership with Isdefe, was held on 26 March and dealt with the national priorities for the European Defence Fund (EDF). Over 600 professionals registered for the conference, which featured more than 420 simultaneous attendees from Spain’s industry, as well as from various universities and research centres.

The initiative was very well received by the sector, given the importance of the EDF. As with the preliminary initiatives, the Preparatory Action on Defence Research (PADR) and the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP), the goal is for the involvement of national companies to have a positive impact on both the development of the Defence Technology and Industrial Base and on the development of the long-term military needs of the armed forces.

The event is part of the activities set in motion by the Ministry of Defence to advertise the first call of the EDF in 2021 and provide guidance to the defence industry on the Ministry’s priorities in the fields of research and capacity development.

The participants were welcomed by Mr Jesús Alonso Martín, Isdefe’s Director of Business Development, and the conference was opened by the Deputy Director General of Planning, Technology and Innovation (SDG PLATIN) at the DGAM, Major General José Luis Murga Martínez. In his remarks, he mentioned the need to ensure consistency between the priorities of the Ministry of Defence and the research and development efforts being undertaken by industry, academia and research centres.

Major General Íñigo Pareja, Chief of the Planning Division at EMACON, discussed the long-term military capabilities that the armed forces need and which can be advanced by these new European initiatives, and by the EDF in particular.

The national technology priorities related to the 2021 work programme on Research and Capabilities was broken down by representatives from the SDG PLATIN Planning Department, Mr José Ramón Sala Trigueros and Colonel Enrique Montero Ruiz.

The key dates set out by the Commission for 2021 were laid out by Colonel Javier Boixareu Torres, from the Multilateral Department of the Sub-Directorate General for International Relations (SDG REINT), the DGAM’s representative at the European Commission and all other countries for developing Work Programmes and coordinating national projects.

Brigadier General César Sáenz de Santamaría, Head of the External Support Office at SDG REINT, closed out the conference by discussing the Ministry’s commitment to supporting the internationalisation of our defence and security sector.

The Ministry of Defence’s Technology and Innovation Portal is available at: https://bit.ly/3usGPkV