On this date, 14 years ago, all of Chile was on edge awaiting news of the 33 miners trapped after the accident at the San José mine on August 5, 2010. Their rescue concluded successfully almost three months later, on October 13, when they emerged from the shaft in the “Fénix” capsule, one by one, safe and sound.
It was an unprecedented event that received global media coverage, focused mainly on the miners’ story of resilience and personal survival. The astonishing story and rescue meant that little attention was paid to another unusual fact: the collaboration between private companies, the Government, the Armed Forces and defense companies that made possible the technological feat that enabled the rescue.
Although uncommon in this part of the world, it is this kind of collaboration that has not only given rise to a long list of technologies that are now ubiquitous in our lives, but has also been the seed and main engine of what we know as the science, technology, knowledge and innovation (CTCI) ecosystem.
This kind of collaboration was reinforced by the geopolitical tensions of the Cold War (the Cold War between the US and the former USSR) at its peak, which meant that R&D&I investment in defense had a direct impact on the development of the country in question. One of the most visible facets of this impact was the transformation of the resulting technologies into products and services for the civilian (or dual) market, from the internet itself to mosquito repellent, including the microwave oven and GPS.
The end of the Cold War and the apparent era of lasting stability that followed led to cuts in defense budgets, and we began to glimpse a new phenomenon: the incorporation into defense of technologies born in the civilian world.
Thus, while at first it was military investment that fueled countries’ scientific, technological and industrial development, the civilian world gradually took the lead, developing technologies that are indispensable for defense. From drones, ubiquitous in the war in Ukraine and the Yemen crisis, to synthetic biology and quantum computing, as well as the accelerated integration of artificial intelligence, it is now defense that incorporates civilian developments to obtain its capabilities.
Duality, therefore, is not a politically correct statement by the military-industrial complex, but a real need of the sector. Civilian applications provide access to public and private funding that is not available for purely military initiatives. In addition, a larger market ensures continuous demand for products and services based on that technology, creating economies of scale that make it profitable to install or modify production infrastructure, and makes this industry attractive to scarce specialized talent. Just as importantly, duality mobilizes public support for projects that are often unpopular with voters.
Around the world, many defense initiatives place duality at the heart of their operations. These are not only projects of the global defense industry (such as Lockheed Martin, SAAB, Airbus or Thales) or of specialized venture capital funds (such as ScaleWolf, MoonShots Capital or Booz Allen), but also government initiatives (such as the US Defense Innovation Unit, JHub Defence Innovation UK or France’s Agence de l’innovation de défense), intergovernmental ones (DIANA, the Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic) and even mixed initiatives, such as the NIF (NATO Innovation Fund), the first sovereign venture capital fund, with more than one billion euros to invest in dual technologies.
What does this have to do with the rescue of the 33 miners? It was precisely on this occasion that the capabilities of the defense industry, private companies, the State and the Armed Forces came together to develop the technology that made the rescue possible. This date (October 13) is the one chosen to commemorate “Defense Innovation Day,” whose bill also promotes the creation of a fund to foster this kind of collaboration. This initiative is joined by the ratification of the RDT&E agreement for joint R&D with the US in dual innovation, and the progress of two major defense programs that consider duality in their design: the Plan Nacional Continuo de Construcción Naval (National Continuous Shipbuilding Plan, which aims for 100% of the fleet to be built locally) and the Sistema Nacional Espacial (National Space System, which seeks to provide the country with space capabilities).
Moreover, as a way of seizing this opportunity, Chile is studying the creation of a Public Technological Institute for defense innovation. This body not only seeks to foster dual innovation and turn defense into an engine of scientific, technological and industrial development for the country but, given the different areas of public policy it involves, it can also become a new space for dialogue between social actors of the utmost relevance to national development.
Javier Ramírez Ramos
Executive Director, Know Hub Chile
Read the original column at https://opinion.cooperativa.cl/opinion/ciencia-y-tecnologia/innovacion-dual-los-33-mineros-y-desarrollo-pais/2024-08-14/120059.html
