Trust in today’s national security ecosystem; and democracies worth protecting
Issue 03: Trading in Trust, revisiting Helsing on stage at Resilience Conference, and a giveaway of the Venture Meets Mission book
Good afternoon from the team at Resilience Media
Helsing has been in the news following their AI strike drone announcement. While reading the news and reactions, I was reminded of a comment Co-CEO Dr Gundbert Scherf made about the Helsing origin story while on stage at Resilience Conference:
“…(W)e [co-founders] shared one conviction, which was democracies are really worth protecting. We've all been fortunate … that we've spent the better part of our lives in those 30 years where … there weren't many challenges to democracies, but that's really changed.”
This deeply resonates with me and the Resilience Media founding team. Born in the 1970s, we came of age during a brief respite in global crisis. Our parents’ and grandparents’ generations, however, were so affected by both hot and cold war that they instilled in us the understanding that democracy is fragile and needs protecting. We carry this ethos into every aspect of our work, alongside founders like those at Helsing and other defence and security tech companies.
For more insights into Helsing, watch Gundbert’s fireside chat with investor Paul Kwan of General Catalyst. Their conversation ranged across topics like becoming a multi-national organisation, how Ukraine has been at the heart of their business, talent recruitment and retention, and what it means to be a democracy-first company. More here.
Don’t forget to complete the ‘Working with Defence & Security 2024’ survey! It is live for two more weeks and will provide valuable insights into how this sector is developing.
-Leslie, co-founder, Resilience Media
Rob Murray, Chief Innovation Officer at Saab, Inc, has written an essay for us in which he reflects on trust as the currency that drives today’s national security innovation landscape, and how corporates, governments, investors, academics, and startups all have contributions to make. ‘This diversity offers resilience but also brings fragmentation,’ says Rob. ‘Trust, which once grew through close, sustained relationships, is harder to establish and often diluted by formalities.’
If you were at Resilience Conference, chances are you picked up a free copy of Venture Meets Mission, by Arun Gupta, CEO of Noble Reach Foundation after his keynote on our stage. We think his message is central to improving innovation in defence and national security. In advance of the holiday season, Noble Reach Foundation has provided a free digital copy of the book exclusively for readers of Resilience Media.
Venture Meets Mission argues that if Business, Government, and Society come together, rebuild trust, and collaborate, we have a generational opportunity to address societal challenges―climate change, cybersecurity, disease outbreaks, food insecurity and education. The book explains, with hope and passion, how our existing entrepreneurial ecosystem, with the ideals of democracy, can be the foundation for a new mission-driven capitalism.
Download your copy here.
On 17th December, Dealroom is hosting a defence tech webinar, with exclusive data and insights on investment into the sector. Dealroom data covers 35 defence segments, in a taxonomy that has been developed with the NATO Innovation Fund and Resilience Conference.
I’ll be participating in the conversation, talking about the findings in relation to Resilience Media reporting and the impact of the State of Defence Tech report which was released in September at the conference.
Join me and register here.
AI
Anduril and Palantir to Accelerate AI Capabilities for National Security
Cybersecurity
UK cyber chief warns country is ‘widely underestimating’ risks from cyberattacks
Drones
Red’s Hellscape Far More Dangerous Than Blue’s
AI Startup Helsing Is Now Making Attack Drones For Europe
Government
Moving toward defence as a service
Defence startups: how to fix the procurement process
Ukraine
NATO chief urges more weapons for Ukraine ahead of any peace talks
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