The Dual Use Cluster’s strategic vision is anchored in cultivating an innovative network predicated on the Multiple Helix paradigm, which ensures synergy among stakeholders to elevate the Romanian dual-use industry. Core objectives include enhancing collaboration between economic sectors, research institutions, and educational entities; incorporating funding bodies for sustainability; and developing a functional network centered on civil-military integration for mutual technological benefits. This vision confronts the challenges of dual-use advancement through cross-sectoral initiatives, bidirectional innovation (defense leveraging civilian advancements and vice versa), and alignment with national strategies such as the National Export Strategy.
Augmentations via platforms like Wallachia eHub and the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) provide conduits for digital transformation, matchmaking, advisory services, and cross-border partnerships, particularly through the EEN’s Defence and Aerospace Sector Group. Strategic phases are interconnected, encompassing support for Helixconnect Europe’s expansion in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, attraction of R&D funding, network cultivation with regional stakeholders, facilitation of knowledge and technology transfer, and orchestration of member matchmaking for collaborative projects.
Linkages with ENDR enable policy advocacy, resource sharing, and alignment with European defense innovation strategies, creating a platform for economic-research-funding synergy. Prospectively, the cluster prioritizes access to EDF and STEP funds, expresses interest in integration with the forthcoming European Industrial Defence Strategy (EIDS), and positions itself for sustainable growth. By advocating for dual-use interoperability, contributing to Europe’s security and economic resilience, and leveraging the Multiple Helix to involve funders, the DUC generates networks that stimulate collaboration and unlock latent potentials, securing funding and partnerships for ecosystem fortification.
- Cultivates innovative network based on MULTIPLE HELIX paradigm for synergy among stakeholders;
- Enhances collaboration between economic sector, research institutions and educational entities;
- Incorporates funding bodies for financial sustainability and resource support
- Focuses on elevating Romanian dual-use industry through refined synergistic initiatives;
- Addresses challenge of advancing dual-use sector via cross-sector collaboration;
- Develops functional network centered on civil-military integration for mutual tech benefits.