Kicking off NATO DIANA’s 2026 Programme

21-22 January marked the start of DIANA's 2026 Programme when sixteen different regional kick-offs took place across the Alliance. These events not only launched the DIANA innovators' acceleration journey for this year, but also brought together a world-class community of innovators, industry leaders, accelerator partners and defence representatives who are eager to shape the future of NATO.

The 2026 Programme features DIANA's largest cohort to date, involving 150 innovators with a clear mission: to drive innovation while helping ensure that NATO remains at the forefront of global defence and security challenges.

The DIANA ecosystem: an unmatched value proposition

DIANA is uniquely positioned as a 'connector' that brings together a wide network of accelerators, 200 test centres and more than 600 mentors with defence, technological and commercial expertise.

For innovators, DIANA offers much more than training and access to experts. By directly engaging with investors and military end-users and through access to real-world operational exercises, innovators gain critical insights that help refine and scale their solutions. For NATO Allies and defence bodies, this ecosystem means quicker access to cutting-edge technologies that address critical defence and security challenges.

More than 25 innovators have already seen their technologies adopted by Allies or tested in operational environments.

Accelerating adoption

DIANA is strongly committed to driving adoption, which means that the journey for innovators within the programme is not solely about technological development, but also about understanding how defence works and what it takes to develop a solution that reaches operational deployment and delivers real-world impact.

Through the Rapid Adoption Service (RAS), DIANA also offers a streamlined pathway for military end-users to test, validate, refine and procure new technologies, shortening the time it takes to move from concept to adoption.

For innovators, the Rapid Adoption Service provides an efficient and effective route to collaborate with the 32 NATO member countries and various NATO bodies.

For Allied militaries, this means they can evaluate and test new technologies in operational settings and environments before proceeding to procurement or acquisition at scale.

By embedding military expertise at every stage of the DIANA programme - from design to involvement in operational exercises - DIANA also helps ensure that solutions coming out of the programme are not just technologically sound, but also relevant to end-users and aligned with real-world operational needs.

What lies ahead for DIANA's 2026 cohort

With the launch of the 2026 cohort, DIANA's focus remains on collaboration, agility and rapid adoption; all with the aim of tackling the defence and security challenges of today and tomorrow.

For innovators, Allies and industry leaders alike, DIANA offers a unique innovation community that continues to shape a safer, more secure future for all.