Cooperation as a capability: Rewiring defence innovation

At this year’s Blue Magic Netherlands event in Eindhoven, Hugo Leyte (ODIN, Ministry of Defence) and Mark Lengton (Deputy Commissioner Military Production, Ministry of Economic Affairs) delivered a coordinated message: the Netherlands is building a new kind of defence innovation engine, one that blends regional strengths, national strategy, and deep collaboration with industry.

The urgency is clear. “Ukraine shows the importance of having access to your innovation powers within your own country, and to have speedy innovation cycles,” Leyte said. Innovation can no longer come only from traditional defence contractors. “You need to be able to ask your questions to unsuspected and unusual suspects,” he added. “They may have the solutions that make the difference.”

Leyte, Chairman of ODIN (Orchestrated Defence Innovation Netherlands), described how the Ministry of Defence is restructuring its innovation ecosystem by dividing the country into seven regions, each with its own full-time innovation team composed of regional development agencies, economic-affairs specialists, local companies, and Defence personnel.

Hugo Leyte, ODIN

The first region launched was Noord-Brabant, with Brainport Eindhoven as a natural anchor. BITS (Brainport Innovation Technology for Security) now plays a central role in this ecosystem, co-organising events like Blue Magic and connecting innovators directly to Defence needs.

But ODIN’s ambition goes beyond regional pilots. “You also need orchestration between those regions,” Leyte stressed, because many challenges - drones, sensors, smart materials, secure communications - span provinces. ODIN acts as that national conductor.

Changing internal culture is just as important. “Defence is used to transactional relationships. That’s not going to work here. You need to be partners,” Leyte said. At the same time, startups often underestimate Defence complexity; one company recently told him it faced “40 access points” within the ministry. ODIN’s regional teams exist precisely to simplify that maze.

The results are tangible: faster access to novel solutions for the armed forces, reduced reliance on foreign technology, and better pathways to military markets for Dutch startups and SMEs.

A holistic industrial strategy - one of Europe’s first

Mark Lengton took the stage to explain how economic and defence policy are being unified behind this innovation mission. As Deputy Commissioner of Military Production at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, he helps steer the Dutch Defence & Security Industry (NLD-DSI) and shape the national industrial participation (IP) policy.

Lengton described how, until recently, Dutch defence policy sat in multiple disconnected frameworks: an industry strategy from 2018, separate MOD innovation agendas, and task forces on supply security. “Somewhere along the way, we realized: we need to scale up. Why not take a more holistic approach?” The result is the new integrated Defence Industry & Innovation Strategy, one of the first of its kind in Europe.

It identifies ten fundamental defence domains but highlights five strategic technology areas where the Netherlands has both strong industry and high Defence demand: intelligent systems, space, sensors, quantum, and smart materials. Roadmaps for each were co-created with the industry and are publicly available. “For once,” Lengton joked, “don’t just read the summary, go look at the roadmaps.”

Industrial participation as a strategic tool

A key mechanism for connecting Dutch companies, including newcomers, to global defence supply chains is the industrial participation policy. When the Netherlands procures defence systems abroad worth more than €5 million, foreign suppliers must invest back into the Dutch ecosystem through co-production, R&D, engineering, and tech transfer.

But Lengton stressed that the goal is not a simple trade-off. “We look for a win-win-win,” he said. “It’s not just about positioning our industry or meeting MOD needs, it’s also about what you, the industry, want to see.” When all benefit, scaling becomes real: technologies move from lab to market, companies grow, capabilities improve, and supply chains become more resilient.

Blue Magic as a testbed

Lengton recalled the origins of Blue Magic: “General Atomics pitched the idea years ago. It made a lot of sense: companies struggle to access supply chains, struggle with finance, and struggle to match their technology with Defence needs. Blue Magic addresses all of that.”

By bringing major industry players together with young companies, Blue Magic creates an environment where coaching, funding, and market access reinforce each other.

On the Defence side, Leyte offered examples of how ODIN’s model accelerates innovation. A generic question about breaking modern minefields triggered ideas not only from defence contractors but from agricultural tech startups used to clearing fields. A call for drone and anti-missile solutions yielded 25 new concepts in ten days.

Thematic coalitions also accelerate progress. The Wireless Optical Communication Alliance, a group of Dutch companies capable of delivering an end-to-end high-speed optical link, emerged when Defence confirmed it would need such capabilities.

A new Defence innovation architecture

Finance is part of it, too. To fix Europe-wide “market failure” in early-stage defence investment, the Netherlands helped create an independent security innovation fund; fast-moving, professionally run, and able to invest where traditional investors hesitate.

Taken together, Leyte and Lengton’s speeches represented a new architecture for Dutch defence innovation: regionally rooted, nationally coordinated, strategically aligned, and open to the full breadth of Dutch technological talent.

“In the end,” Leyte said, “it’s all about ideas and threats, and to turn them into solutions.”