Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner and Anton Plimon, Managing Director of the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), signed a cooperation agreement between the Federal Ministry of Defense and the AIT a few days ago. The research cooperation has been in place since 2010 and has now been extended for a second time for a further five years.
The Austrian Armed Forces work closely with the scientific community in the Austrian research community. The aim is to regularly exchange information on future technological developments, develop new projects and thereby expand the department’s knowledge base. For the Austrian Armed Forces, this cooperation is particularly important in the areas of cyber defence, digitalization, NBC defence and autonomous systems. “The use of the latest technologies is becoming increasingly important. In order to be able to evaluate and assess these, we need the cooperation of competent research partners. Especially at a time when cyber attacks are on the rise and the protection of critical infrastructure and national security are of the utmost importance, such cooperation is indispensable for the Austrian Armed Forces,” says Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner. “The past few years have shown that a trusting cooperation has been established between the AIT and the Austrian Armed Forces. The Austrian Armed Forces play a key role in security-related topics and have the corresponding infrastructure. The domestic economy and industry also benefit from this cooperation,” says Plimon. Plimon cites fake news detection systems and quantum technologies for eavesdropping security and data sovereignty as current key areas of technology development within the scope of the cooperation. Research in the field of NBC defense already has a long tradition. Innovative developments in the field of airborne and robot-based visualization of NBC threats have led to a flagship project within the framework of EU research programmes in recent years. The KIRAS project defalsif-AI is a national initiative dealing with the use of artificial intelligence for data analysis. The aim is to uncover fake news and disinformation. These weaken political and state institutions in our democracy and therefore ultimately public trust in political and state institutions. An equally modern solution for security is offered by tap-proof encryption using quantum technology. In total, the cooperation with the AIT has resulted in 42 joint projects in a wide range of technology areas.
