On Friday, October 25, defence and technologies creative camp (hackathon) DELTA NAVY begins at the Lithuanian Navy in Klaipėda. During the 48-hour event a group of 50 scientists, inventors, military enthusiasts, experts in various fields, and start-ups will gather together for an unusual place, aboard LNS Jotvingis headquarters and supply ship moored at the Naval Flotilla, to develop innovative solutions in the field of defence and for the Lithuanian Armed Forces. They will be receiving advice from over 20 experts of Lithuania and foreign countries in different areas – laser technology, unmanned aerial vehicles, engineer programming, etc.
“We see the hackathon as an extraordinary event and hope that such a collaboration will not only inform the society better on the defence technology and security sector but will also allow us to come up with innovative solutions to some of the challenges. On the other hand, the Lithuanian Armed Forces will receive plenty of valuable information on the opportunity it never knew there was,” one of the organizers, Head of Research and Technology Division of the Defence Materiel Agency under the Ministry of National Defence Laurynas Mockaitis says.
Commander of the Lithuanian Navy Rear Adm (lower half) Arūnas Mockus expressed delight about the fact that the event was widely noticed by scientists and IT companies which allows to hope the event will result in creation of products the Lithuanian Armed Forces needs that could also be used in the civilian sector.
Over 100 scientists, experts of different areas from Lithuania and abroad applied to participate. An ad hoc jury selected 50 of them – laser technology experts, experienced engineers, students and professors of Lithuanian universities.
The selected participants will be asked to solve three problems presented by the Lithuanian Navy during the event. Task / problem 1. To develop a military personnel and its resource management on-board system the purpose of which is to protect crew members from dangers at sea, fires, or falling overboard. Task / problem 2: to develop a system of laser communication between ships at sea enabling code protected laser communication between ships in conditions of radio silence or in the environment of radio wave disturbance. Task / problem 3: development of a drone adapted for offshore operations that would allow tasks of reconnaissance to be performed in a timely and effective manner, to transmit information on the object searched to the ship of the Lithuanian Navy.
The products developed by the participants will be evaluated by the Commission consisting of representatives of the Ministry of National Defence, Lithuanian Navy, Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology, and other representatives of the start-up ecosystem.
DELTA NAVY is the second defence and technologies creative camp (hackathon) in the Lithuanian Armed Forces and the first one in the Lithuanian Navy. Such events are organized in order to stimulate defence industry and development of corresponding ecosystems.
The hackathon format is widespread around the world, and is characterized by teams gathered together at a venue of the event developing technological solutions for a particular area or to solve one problem, and this is done during a short period of time (usually over the weekend). At the end of hackathon the teams present a prototype product for evaluation of a commission of experts.
The EU also plans launching a European Defence Fund programme in 2020 for facilitating cooperation among defence industry companies in order to get small and medium-sized companies involved into creation and development of new technology.
DELTA NAVY is organized by the Ministry of National Defence, Lithuanian Navy, Start-up Ecosystem Development Unit of the Enterprise Lithuania Public Institution, Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Kaunas University of Technology, and others. The best solutions will be rewarded with monetary prizes.
More on the event – https://deltanavy.lt/
For the Media :
Please register before 1200 hrs on Friday, October 25, at [email protected] to attend presentations of the final products aboard LNS Jotvingis on October 27. Please indicate you full name, media outlet, contacts (cell phone ho., e-mail address).
Freelance reporters and foreign media representatives will need accreditation given by the MoD Strategic Communication and Public Relations Department, e-mail: [email protected]. Information required: filled out questionnaire form, copies of a personal ID document and confirmation letter from the media outlet.
POC: Lt CDr Ramūnas Kažerskas, +370 698 18196, [email protected]
