ELSA Lab Defence kicks off!

Friday 4 November, the external kick-off of the ELSA Lab Defence took place at the research facility of TNO in Soesterberg. The afternoon marked the start of the ELSA Lab Defence, during which consortium members and external partners discussed the various opportunities and challenges around the usage of AI in the military domain.

The kick-off was held in the Concurrent Design Facility. This facility is the result of a cooperation between the Defensie Materieel Organisatie (DMO) and TNO. It is set up to stimulate and support Concurrent Design, a method in which specialists from different disciplines work simultaneously on a complex issue. This way of working ensures that all dependencies in an issue are addressed.

The meeting was moderated by Marlijn Heijnen (TNO) and opened by Marja Eijkman, the director of Defense, Safety, and Security at TNO. Presentations were held by Kate Devitt (Trusted Autonomous Systems), Filippo Santoni de Sio (TU Delft), Victor Henzel (DMO), Merle Zwiers (Dutch Ministry of Defence), and Paul Sinning (HCCS).

Finally, Juriaan van Diggelen, the scientific lead of the ELSA Lab Defence, concluded the afternoon. A productive and inspiring afternoon was ended with a toast, celebrating the start of the ELSA Lab Defence. A big thank you to all our speakers, and to our guests for joining us in the celebration.