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TTMS begins support for NATO Innovation Hub

Marcin Kapuściński

Transition Technologies – Managed Services participates in supporting the Innovation Hub, a special unit established by the Allied Command Transformation (ACT). TTMS experts will support its activities in the area of IT systems development.

In recent years, many countries belonging to the NATO have started creating innovative initiatives, aimed at using modern technologies, mainly from the commercial sector, for their implementation in the military environment. Centers have been established in individual countries to support this effort, including in the USA (NSIN, Air Force Kessel Run Lab), Germany (Cyber Incubators), France (AID) and Great Britain (DSTL). Their task is to solve the current and future problems of the armed forces, for example related to the reduction of fuel consumption by air force planes or the development of autonomous combat systems.

In response to this trend, NATO has established a dedicated structure, that is to help in the effective development of modern and innovative technologies – iHub Laboratory Capability (iHub). iHub provides a space to test new hypotheses and solutions, turning them into user-centric ideas.

Transition Technologies MS S.A. joins the group of companies and scientific institutions that will support the Innovation Lab in technology development on a daily basis. Our experts will work on specific projects in several IT areas.

– This is not the first cooperation between TTMS and an international organization. Since 2019, we have been providing services for, among others, the European Space Agency (ESA). For the first time, however, we are cooperating directly with an institution subordinated to NATO. Activities for this type of clients give us a sense of real impact on shaping the defense and space sectors, that are extremely important to the world – says Sebastian Sokołowski, CEO of TTMS.

 

What is IHUB?

iHub, or Innovation Hub, is a laboratory whose operating model is based on an incubator, which is a space for testing hypotheses and solutions focused on Minimum Viable Product (MVP) products. IHub is characterized by the close collaboration between developers and end users. Agile DevSecOps practices from industry and the latest research from academia ensure the efficiency of turning ideas into products.

Ihub provides its operational customers with a catalog of innovative products and services, with a strong focus on fast, regular delivery. They belong to the so-called SIP, or Software-Intensive Products, which are either strictly programming projects, or software is their basic component.

– TTMS is one of the few companies in Poland prepared to support such innovative units from the defense and space sectors. We have numerous certificates and permits, the acquisition of which sometimes takes years, and our team consists of highly specialized experts with not only technical but, above all, substantive knowledge. In some cases, due to the level of expertise required, it was necessary to hire specialists from other NATO and EU countries. This allows us to compete with companies on the international arena – adds Marcin Kubec, Chief Exacutive Officer in TTMS.

The demand for services provided by the iHub incubator of new technologies is constantly growing. This is related to the growing competition in the field of technology between the United States and its Allies and China – explains Paweł Fleischer, Business Development Manager for the defense and space sector in TTMS – There is a noticeable competition between countries not only in the area of developing new weapons, e.g. electromagnetic weapons, hypersonic missiles, but especially software and data processing. The modern armed forces are equipped with more and more advanced command, communication, reconnaissance and logistics systems that process and distribute huge amounts of data. Therefore, software enabling fast and reliable data processing is now beginning to play a key role.

A new trend in the defense sector is characterized by an increasing demand for services provided by accelerators such as iHub. When it comes to producing innovative products, the commercial (civil) sector has a clear advantage over the military. Acceleration initiatives are to help eliminate this advantage. This increases the pace of work, which in turn means, that the existing teams are regularly enlarged with the most talented specialists. The activities of employees in the project are fully transparent and traceable thanks to the use of modern Continous Integration and Continous Delivery toolkits.