The second Dual Hub Summit, organized by Know Hub Chile, will bring together national and international leaders in Santiago to consolidate dual innovation as a key strategy for diversifying the economy, strengthening security and boosting technology transfer.
Dual innovation, a bridge between science and defense, is gaining momentum as a key strategy for national development. Proof of this is the Dual Hub Summit, whose second edition, “Dual Hub: An opportunity for the country”, to be held on August 5 at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the Universidad de Chile, will bring together leaders from the public sector, defense, academia, industry and entrepreneurship with a common goal: to coordinate capabilities and boost the country’s growth through shared technology solutions.
Organized by Know Hub Chile, the event seeks to showcase real cases, open new opportunities for collaboration and consolidate an active community around dual innovation, which, as Javier Ramírez, executive director of Know Hub Chile, explains, “makes it possible to connect scientific knowledge with the country’s concrete needs, allowing developments in defense to become solutions that also benefit civil society.”
For countries such as Chile and others in Latin America, dual innovation has become a concrete tool for closing the historical gap between the defense world and the science, technology, knowledge and innovation (CTCI) ecosystem. International examples confirm this: the Roomba robotic vacuum, created by iRobot, is a dual innovation, because its technology and know-how originated in defense and were successfully adapted to the civilian market; drones, designed for reconnaissance, now support agriculture and logistics; and oxygenation technology, essential in submarines, has found applications in mining and hospitals.
It is no longer an emerging field but an established reality. For example, initiatives of the U.S. Department of Defense such as the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) increased their 2024 budget to USD 983 million, up from USD 70 million in 2023. And in Europe, while global venture capital investment contracted by around 25–26% in 2024, according to KPMG Private Enterprise’s Venture Pulse report, hitting its lowest level in almost seven years and reflecting a drop in deal volume and value, venture capital investment in defense and dual-use technologies has quadrupled since 2018, reaching USD 3.9 billion in 2024, according to the latest report from Dealroom, the global data and intelligence provider on startups and technology ecosystems.
From the lab to real impact
In Chile, this strategy opens opportunities for universities, startups and industries that can collaborate with the defense sector while generating social and productive impact. “Dual innovation is not a distant concept or one exclusive to the military world. It is a real opportunity to diversify the productive matrix, foster technological autonomy and create high-value jobs,” Ramírez emphasizes.
Through its Dual Hub platform, Know Hub Chile has positioned itself as a catalyst for initiatives that drive public-private collaboration. One example is Desafío Avante, developed with the Chilean Navy’s Technological Innovation Center, which invites startups and research teams to solve naval challenges with potential civilian use.
Another flagship case is Proa I+D, a program that connects researchers with the Chilean Navy to accelerate technology transfer through the joint development of solutions of institutional interest. Among its achievements is the oxygenation project led by Dr. Flavia Zacconi, which has now been awarded Fondef funding to continue its development. In this initiative, the Chilean Navy (Armada de Chile) participates as an associated entity, actively contributing to the design and validation of the solution and facilitating access to spaces, knowledge and capabilities key to its implementation.
In addition, initiatives such as Desafío Fortis, in collaboration with the international company Lockheed Martin and awarded to Universidad Austral, make it possible to explore new applications for the FORTIS exoskeleton, demonstrating the potential of dual technology in areas such as mining and wildfire fighting.
To strengthen this vision, Know Hub Chile has also promoted the Dual Innovation Book, a joint publication with the Chilean Navy’s Technological Innovation Center that compiles expert views, interviews and national and international cases, seeking to bring the topic into public debate and offer a roadmap for those leading innovation processes in universities, research centers, the armed forces and industry.
Deepening the dialogue
The first Dual Hub Summit, held in May 2025 in Concepción, drew more than 230 attendees and featured seven thematic blocks and several examples of effective collaboration. The event made it clear that dual innovation is not an abstract idea but a concrete, achievable tool for Chile. It also highlighted the urgency of addressing the structural disconnect between strategic sectors and the national science and technology ecosystem.
The second event, to be held in Santiago, seeks to move further along this path, promoting a strategy in which installed capabilities connect with real problems. “We want scientific knowledge to find application and public investment in technology to be a lever for productive, territorial and sustainable development,” says Ramírez.
The executive director of Know Hub Chile notes that the task is not simple, but the potential is enormous. “With strategic vision and collective commitment, dual innovation can become a true engine of development for Chile.”
Featured speakers will include Gene Keselman, executive director of Mission Innovation Experimental (MIx), head of Proto Ventures and a lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, with extensive experience in the startup world and in the development of dual technologies.
Another key speaker is Enrique Bustos Martín, PhD in Chemical Sciences and delegate in Chile of the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI). The CDTI, part of Spain’s Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, has been a key player in promoting business technology innovation, supporting Spanish companies and startups with more than EUR 2.3 billion in 2024, a figure it plans to maintain in 2025 and the following years.
The event is sponsored by Lockheed Martin, Saab and Oracle; supported by CORFO Bío-Bío, CORFO and ANID; and endorsed by the Chilean Navy’s Technological Innovation Center, the Chilean Air Force, FIDAE, Open Beauchef, the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the Universidad de Chile, DTS and the CDTI.
