Bernard Hudson’s, CEO at LGGS and a former CIA Chief of Counterterrorism, Drone Valley concept for Poland was presented at the Warsaw Drone Summit, as a way to accelerate innovation in this increasingly critical sector to benefit Poland and Ukraine. The meeting brought together militaries, governments, investors and companies who were heavily involved in the drone industry from Poland, Ukraine, USA and other countries.
The Russian invasion on Ukraine has made it clear that the role of drones on today’s battlefield has rapidly increased. And will be growing. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation data size of military drone market is valued at $11.7billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 17.2 billion by 2028.
That is why Hudson initiated the Warsaw Drone Summit as a communication platform to exchange views of relevant stakeholders in the region and come up with a plan to accelerate innovation in this sector. A Drone Valley located in Poland, which could become a regional center for drone technology and innovation, seems to be the best concept to address all needs of the moment.
The concept of “Drone Valley” is not at all limited to drones, says Elizabeth Charnock, CEO at Chenope, an American software startup who recently opened up in Poland. Numerous kinds of advanced software technologies are becoming more and more important for drones and indeed across the spectrum of sophisticated military equipment. These include machine vision, sensor fusion, and advanced inferencing software.
For Yegor Dubynskyi, Ukrainian Digital Transformation V-ce Minister, it’s obvious that thanks to rapid technological advancement internet and digital space have increasingly become the new digital technology on the battlefield where drones and other unmanned systems play more and more significant roles.
“Ukraine develops innovative solutions for UAVs production and becomes a new testing ground for the drone technology”, says Dubynskyi. “The mission of drones is to conduct smart warfare and preserve human lives. And a drone is a sign of the Ukrainian smart fight for freedom”,
concludes Dubynskyi.
Robert Fintak, CEO of the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems (PISB), agrees that the Drone Valley is a concept to benefit not only Poland and Ukraine, but the whole CEE region. Poland has one-of-a-kind opportunity to become a drone industry incubator for the region and strengthen a cooperation in this region. „I love the Drone Valley concept. Poland has strong position in drone development and manufacturing. Combining Polish and Ukrainian resources would create unparalleled competitiveness on European level”, adds Fintak.
BERNARD HUDSON, FORMER CHIEF OF COUNTERTERRORISM, CIA
Bernard Hudson is the CEO of LGGS, an international drone advisory firm whose activities in conflict zones range from the Middle East to Eastern Europe. Prior to starting LGGS, Bern last served as CIA’s Chief of Counterterrorism where he directed all aspects of the Agency’s global war on terrorism. He is also currently a non-resident Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center and serves on a number of boards. He holds a BA from Georgetown University in Political Science.
LGGS
Headquartered in Reston, VA (USA), LGGS is a drone advisory firm that brings together battle-proven experts from the most sophisticated unmanned programs in the world. We help governments and others tackle some of the world’s hardest problems related to drone technology and applications. LGGS staff collectively have decades of experience identifying innovative and cost-effective ways to use drones and related technologies in both combat and non-combat usages.
CHENOPE
Chenope is an American software company that develops systems for constructing complex mathematical models. Use cases include sensor fusion – where we partner with LGGS – and detection of the coordinated transmission of disinformation. Chenope’s multidisciplinary team holds several very highly cited patents in different areas of AI. It includes mathematicians, computer scientists, computational linguists, and an economist. Chenope has an office in Kyiv, and has recently opened an office in Warsaw.
POLISH CHAMBER OF UNMANNED SYSTEMS
Headquartered in Warsaw, the goal of the association is to work towards improving the regulatory environment and the organizational conditions of the unmanned systems market in order to fully exploit the economic and technological potential of the sector.
Source: Press Release