IPN - Instituto Pedro Nunes - Army Innovation Day: the Portuguese Army and Technological Innovation at Instituto Pedro Nunes

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Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) hosted the ‘Army Innovation Day - Innovating with the Army in Coimbra’, organised in partnership with the Portuguese Army, on 4 February 2025. The event was dedicated to presenting the Army Modernisation Programme and promoting innovation and technological development in the defence sector.


The meeting brought together experts, companies and innovation institutions, promoting the sharing of knowledge and the exploration of opportunities that the Army can provide to industry and the scientific and technological community.

The programme included a series of talks and thematic panels on technological modernisation, innovation in autonomous systems, geospatial solutions for defence and sustainability in the military area.

The event was opened by Lieutenant General Rui Manuel da Silva Ferreira, Commander of the Land Forces, and Professor João Gabriel Silva, Chairman of the IPN Board.


During the first panel, dedicated to Innovation and Technological Modernisation in the Army, Colonel António Oliveira, Head of the Land Military Planning Division of the Army General Staff, and Colonel Pedro Cruz, Head of the Doctrine Division of the Army General Staff, presented the technological modernisation initiatives underway, while João Gabriel Silva, Chairman of the IPN Board, highlighted the main achievements of the Institute and discussed how the Portuguese Innovation ecosystem can contribute to the Portuguese Armed Forces in the context of quickly transforming war technologies driven by the war in Ukraine.


The second panel, on the theme of Autonomous Remote Systems: Solutions for application in the Army Ground Force, moderated by Brigadier General José Miguel Moreira Freire, Commander of the Intervention Brigade, discussed the applications of these systems in the Army. Major Aires Carqueijo, from the Army General Staff, and Captain Artur Varanda, from the Army's Centre for Technological Experimentation and Modernisation (CEMTEX), took part, followed by technical presentations from companies incubated at IPN, namely Ricardo Patrício from Flowbotic, André Pardal from Atlos and Carlos Ribeiro from Twevo.


The third panel, entitled Geospatial Solutions for Defence: Innovation and Precision to Transform the Future, moderated by Carla Duarte, IPN's innovation manager, highlighted the use of geospatial solutions in the defence sector, with interventions by Major João Ferreira from the Army's Geospatial Information Centre (CIGeOE) and presentations by Martino Correia from Spotlite, Carlos Cerqueira from Neuraspace and Tiago Rebelo from Connected, companies also supported by IPN.


To conclude the debates, the panel on Energy and Water Efficiency, Sustainability and Environmental Protection in the Intervention Brigade featured a presentation by Major Rita Marques, the project manager. This was followed by a presentation of the success story of Critical Software, represented by Tiago Baía, who highlighted the company's trajectory from its first steps at IPN to its collaboration with the Army.

The event was closed by Ricardo Pinheiro Alves, Chairman of the Board of Directors of idD Portugal Defence, who highlighted the importance of collaboration between Defence, Industry and innovation institutions.