The interaction between the academic community and the defense sector is one of the key principles of Ukraine’s development in the global arena of defense research and development and the education of new specialists for the labor market.
This was discussed at the event “MILTech: Academic Community and the Defense Sector”, organized jointly by the Alumni Association of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
The speakers of the event were:
Sergiy Stirenko – Vice-Rector for Science of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Doctor of Technical Sciences. Expert in the field of AI and security technologies, coordinates international projects and programs of the National Research Foundation for Defense.
Maria Berlinska is a public figure, founder of the Aerial Reconnaissance Support Center and initiator of the Invisible Battalion. Since 2014, she has been teaching the military how to work with drones and promoting the development of attack UAVs.
Andriy Hlybovets is the Dean of the Faculty of Informatics at NaUKMA, Doctor of Technical Sciences. He develops R&D in cooperation with the IT business and implements project-based learning in the defense context.
Oleksandr Kardakov is the founder of Octava Defence, an expert in cybersecurity and defense technologies.
During the event, Oleksandr Kardakov shared his experience on:
The role of business in the development of MILTech – how companies can support university startups and accelerate innovation in the army.
Cybersecurity in defense projects – why it is critical to integrate data and network protection at the technology development stage.
Public-private partnerships – what mechanisms will help to scale successful student developments, such as UAVs or electronic warfare systems.
The founder of Octave Defence also noted that it is necessary to develop a dialogue between business and young talents on parity and develop business ethics, because this is the only way to achieve effective solutions and understanding in the implementation and scaling of new promising projects.
“When someone has an idea and someone has a resource, only in understanding and dialogue in the same language can a project be launched on a mutually beneficial basis, when the inventor makes a profit, the business scales the inventor’s project and receives its share according to the agreements, the state receives taxes from these activities, and the Defense Forces, speaking of small-scale projects, are effective means of fighting the enemy,” Oleksandr Kardakov said during the discussion.