Hungary is entering an era of dual-use innovation

The Defence Innovation Research Institute’s TECHDEF25 conference, held on December 9–10, once again brought together Europe’s defense and technology ecosystem - decision-makers, researchers, industry leaders, and venture capital investors - to jointly explore how to strengthen Europe’s security and shape the future defense landscape.

At the two-day event, CEO Roland Jakab explained that the renewed HUN-REN is now one of Hungary’s largest research ecosystems: it operates 7 research centers, 8 independent research institutes, more than 100 university research groups, and employs nearly 3,400 researchers. Its annual budget exceeds 100 million euros, and its staff produce several thousand scientific publications and nearly 300 industrial property filings each year, as well as having launched 17 spin-off companies.

“Dual-use innovation is increasingly becoming the strategic engine of Hungary’s research ecosystem,” emphasized Roland Jakab in his presentation, adding that the importance of dual-use innovations is rising worldwide: these developments simultaneously drive economic growth, industrial competitiveness, and national security.

“They are of strategic importance for Hungary as well, which is why HUN-REN is actively involved in European programs such as Horizon Europe and the European Defence Fund, both of which provide substantial funding for this type of research,” he added.

Roland Jakab also spoke about the AI Factory Antenna program, which is available to Hungarian businesses and researchers and could become a real driving force in ecosystem-building. “Thanks to these partnerships, we can demonstrate how a scientific discovery or research result can begin its journey toward real-world application, and how it can generate economic and social impact along the way,” said the HUN-REN CEO.