In a conversation with Oeiras Valley, Commander João Carlos Lourenço da Piedade, head of the Navy’s Innovation and Transformation Division, talked about the cooperation protocolsrecently signed between the Portuguese Navy and Oeiras: one to promote innovation and another to improve the Vasco da Gama Aquarium.
During the interview, he talked about how Oeiras can “in some way contribute to the challenges that the Navy has in terms of technology”. Throughout the conversation, he also referenced the improvement protocol for the Vasco da Gama Aquarium, which can contribute to the preservation of Portugal’s historical and cultural heritage.
Read the full interview which introduces the work of Commander João Carlos Lourenço da Piedade, who has been in the Navy for more than 30 years.
How important is the cooperation between the Navy and the Municipality of Oeiras to accelerate technological development and to enhance the location’s appeal and the settlement of talent in Oeiras?
There is a more comprehensive protocol that is linked to innovation which might thus play a part in the establishment of talent there. Ultimately, a more dynamic relationship between the Navy and Oeiras is its goal, so that Oeiras may also in some way contribute to the challenges that the Navy has in terms of technology. Given the county’s connection to technology in its recent history, and since Oeiras is home to a series of companies of enormous relevance at a national level connected to modern technologies and innovative solutions, this protocol certainly aims to bring these talents to the sea, to the blue economy side. It also seeks to create a connection here to respond to those technological challenges that the Navy faces, to prepare for future threats and all the difficulties that operations at sea are subject to in a world where new and emerging technologies arise daily.
And what are these specific challenges that the Navy has to overcome?
All the military systems and systems we call legacy, traditional systems, carry high costs. Historically, such systems cannot be acquired in Portugal because there is no one developing them. What the Navy is trying to do with the national industrial fabric — not only in Oeiras, but the entire national industrial fabric — is to identify some of the domains that may find a way to develop new solutions that are cheaper, using emerging and disruptive technologies, drawing on the knowledge resident in our country, the companies we have and the technologies developed in Portugal. Ultimately, our goal is to make a technological leap — not to follow the normal curve and go after the acquisition of normal technologies specifically linked to the military and the navy, but to make a technological leap towards more disruptive solutions, disruptive ways of operating at sea.
I can give an example. Sensors are something we look for and they pose a challenge. Any sensor today has very high prices because it also has a long research and development pathway that needs to be adhered to. However, there are other kinds of technologies emerging now which probably can, with such disruptive solutions or approaches, lower the final cost of those sensors to be put on board the naval units.
How can the improvement of the Vasco da Gama Aquarium contribute to the preservation of Portugal’s historical and cultural heritage?
The Vasco da Gama Aquarium has a very large collection linked to the legacy of King Carlos I, who was an oceanographer. This collaboration with Oeiras will not only contribute to preserving this legacy, but also to disseminating it to schools. The work that has been developed in the last two years, already in collaboration with Oeiras, has been very significant. Today the Aquarium is very different from what it was two years ago, it is much more technological and oriented towards younger generations. There is even the ability to access the legacy of King Carlos I online, instead of visiting it in person at the Aquarium Vasco da Gama. It is indeed a completely different Aquarium, thanks to the help of Oeiras.
How can the cooperation between the Navy and the Municipality of Oeiras contribute to building a network for innovation and technological cooperation in Portugal and internationally?
The Navy thinks of innovation as an open, collaborative process. Innovation doesn’t happen alone. It must be done in partnership with academia and industry. In recent years, the Navy has been building or developing several infrastructures to somehow leverage these collaborations. One of them is the Navy Operational Experimentation Center, located in Tróia, which is the first technological free zone in Portugal, available for companies to test solutions in a real environment.
It is exactly through these protocols that the Navy can leverage the development of new solutions, establishing relationships with the industry which would consistently have an end user, side by side, in the development stages. When new, applied technologies for use in the ocean are developed, they can be done side by side with the Navy from the get-go for the identification of the requirements, but also to help the experimentation in a real-life environment. Therefore, we find that we can greatly accelerate the development of these new solutions because such collaboration with companies cuts down a lot of experimentation and testing time.
What opportunities do these protocols bring to the two entities in terms of research and scientific innovation in the aeronautics, space and defense sectors?
In the defense area, it is obvious – it is where the Navy operates, as well as in maritime safety. As for aeronautics, the Navy Operational Experimentation Center is a technology free zone and it has airspace reserved for experimentation.
It is rare to find such spaces to do this kind of experimentation, not only in Portugal, but across Europe. The fact that we have several international partners who have contacted us precisely to use the technological free zone for some experimentation reveals the need for these types of spaces. Therefore, we can also collaborate in the aeronautics area, without a doubt.
Finally, when it comes to the use of space to support maritime safety and defense operations, which is the area where the Navy has the most expertise.
How can the cooperation between the Navy and the Municipality of Oeiras benefit the local population?
Indirectly, without a doubt, it will be attractive for more companies to bring further knowledge to Oeiras and for other types of companies to establish themselves there – not only directly because of the protocol, but ultimately because of the friendly relationship between Oeiras and the Navy and the use of the Operational Experimentation Center. Undoubtedly, it is an asset for the companies that settle there now. Directly, the collaboration with the Vasco da Gama Aquarium and the way we are working with schools have a highly relevant contribution, as it allows us to educate the young generations and it broadens general knowledge about the ocean.
And if you had to name just one advantage of the many that this type of cooperation brings, which would you deem the most important?
Knowledge is fundamental for innovation. And when I speak of knowledge, it means knowing the products, knowing the capacities of companies not only based in Oeiras, through the protocol which bring us very close to them, but also throughout Portugal. This knowledge and this close connection often allow the acceleration of development because we understand the knowledge that is resident in the companies and their capacity to develop solutions.
I’m going to shift the focus here a little bit, specifically to the Navy’s innovation and transformation division. I will start by asking what role does this division play within the Navy?
This division essentially acts as an innovation facilitator. We are not innovators; we are innovation facilitators. It is very focused on bridging the gap between industry, academia and the Navy. In fact, one of the principles of the division’s main missions is to bridge the gap between the civilian world and the Navy.
Another principle would be to identify, in some way, funding for these types of solutions and then monitor all the projects that we are developing. This is, in a very summarized and simple way, what we do in the innovation division.
Could you talk about one or more projects developing something you would like to highlight or that you consider really unique?
We have several funded projects, but I believe the implementation of the technological free zone, for example, is one that started to be developed not only in the innovation division, but in partnership with the Naval Command. In my opinion, it is a transformational project, without a doubt, and not only for the Navy. It can be a transformational project for Portugal since it is a technological free zone focused on the sea, focused on finding solutions to be used at sea. Using an environment that mimics reality, it allows us to try those solutions in situations very similar to the real ones that may be encountered. I think it is a project that was very interesting to develop. In the future we will certainly hear a lot about the Infante D. Henrique Technological Free Zone.
