March 11, 2026, Swedish Chamber Tech Tables: Innovation for Strategic Autonomy

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Date: March 11, 2026
Time: 16.00 – 19.00
Venue: Edge Olympic, Fred. Roeskestraat 115, 1076 EE Amsterdam

FULLY BOOKED: Swedish Chamber Tech Table: Innovation for Strategic Autonomy

Europe’s security landscape is changing rapidly. As global power dynamics shift and traditional alliances come under pressure, Europe’s security and sovereignty are increasingly shaped by its ability to innovate and adopt new technologies. At the same time, the defense sector faces a fundamental question: how can rapid innovation be enabled while safeguarding security, compliance, and trust?

Innovation & Defense is a focused event exploring the role of innovation in strengthening European sovereignty and strategic autonomy. The session examines how the defense sector can expand beyond its current supply chain and work with the broader ecosystem and new technology partners to accelerate innovation. All, while maintaining the high standards of security, due diligence, and operational reliability that the sector requires.

Traditionally built on control and long development cycles, the defense industry is now confronted with the need for greater speed, experimentation, and openness. This event offers insight into how that can be achieved through new forms of collaboration and ecosystem-based approaches.

Program

16:00 Doors open

16:00-16:30 Registration and coffee

16:30-16:40 Welcome and introduction by Moderator Pieter Paul van Oerle

16:40-16:55 Hessel van Oorschot on Orchestrating the System (what’s beyond the Triple Helix)

16:55-17:10 Mirjam Ros on how Trust Requires Structural Change

17:10-17:25 Robin Hughes on Readiness & Ecosystem Integration

17:25-18:00 Q&A and panel discussion

18:00-18.15 Event conclusion Pieter Paul van Oerle

18.15 Thank you by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce

18:15-19.00 Networking drinks & Swedish snacks

Key takeaways

How defense can use new ecosystems — moving beyond silos toward coordinated collaboration across government, industry and knowledge institutions.
Clarity on strategic autonomy in practice — how procurement, partnerships and contracting must evolve to enable speed and trust.
Insight into readiness under pressure — why trusted industrial relationships must be built before a crisis to scale rapidly when it matters most.
A reframed understanding of sustainability — energy resilience and supply chain security as foundations of long-term defense strength.

Read more about the speakers below.

Registration close on March 4, 2026.

Registration closed

Hessel van Oorschot, SiR Intergov

Hessel van Oorschot leads Startup in Residence Intergov, the Dutch intergovernmental execution capability for public-private innovation and strategic procurement. A former tech founder, he brings first-hand experience in building companies, overcoming setbacks, and working with government on large-scale innovation agendas. Today, he orchestrates cross-government innovation capacity across ministries, provinces, and municipalities delivering procurable, market-ready solutions within 9–12 months. Recognized by the European Commission and recently awarded the EEPA Award, Intergov has evolved beyond pilot programs into a structural instrument for public innovation and scaling.

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Robin Hughes, Saab

Robin Hughes is Strategic Innovation & Technology Director at Saab, where he works at the intersection of emerging technologies, defence capability development, and ecosystem collaboration. Based in Linköping, he focuses on strengthening European strategic autonomy by accelerating the responsible adoption of dual-use and frontier technologies. With a background in space physics and more than 15 years of leadership experience in engineering and research-driven organisations, Robin combines deep technical understanding with strategic foresight. His work centres on bridging established defence industry structures with new technology actors — translating innovation potential into operational capability.

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Mirjam Ros, nlmtd

Mirjam Ros is an expert in the field of innovation & collaboration in a rapidly changing and complex world. “No one flies solo.” That motto runs like a common thread through the work of Mirjam Ros. She brings together people, ideas, and interests to enable innovative collaboration — from aviation and defense to space industry. She combines more than 25 years of experience in commercial, legal, and strategic leadership roles at organizations such as Airbus Netherlands, (GKN) Fokker, and TNO with her current work at nlmtd as a business coach, speaker, and advisor. She is also the author of the book The Innovation Matrix ( https://www.bispublishers.com/the-innovation-matrix.html) In her keynote How to Innovate within the Defence Innovation Ecosystem, Mirjam Ros explore how we accelerate innovation in a sector where security, speed, and scale are essential. She shares insight into how orchestration — the smart alignment of roles, interests, and processes — acts as the driving force behind successful innovation in the defence sector and beyond (dual-use). An inspiring call to action for everyone in the ecosystem: from government to start-up.

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Mireille van der Meij, Strategic Advisor

Mireille van der Meij is a strategic advisor in sustainability and regulatory transformation within the defense and manufacturing ecosystem. She believes resilience and sustainability are no longer peripheral themes, but core strategic drivers in a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape. With over twenty years of experience advising executive leadership at organizations including Damen Shipyards and Fokker Aerospace (now GKN Aerospace), she brings a strong track record in public affairs, stakeholder alignment, and complex change processes. She translates complex regulatory, geopolitical, and sustainability developments into clear strategic choices and practical implementation. Mireille van der Meij is member of the Board of the Platform Sustainability, Environment and Security of the Netherlands Industries for Defense and Security (NIDV) and member of the Sustainability Commission of Aerospace. Security and Defense (ASD) industries in Europe. Her call to action: embed sustainability into the heart of the defense ecosystem — not as obligation, but as strategic advantage.

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Moderator Pieter Paul van Oerle, nlmtd

Pieter Paul van Oerle is the founder of independent Consultancy Firm nlmtd. His focus is on Open Innovation and building Ecosystems, Clusters and Coalitions. Accelerating Innovation and Industrial Developments in the Netherlands and close -Nordic- allies is core to strategic autonomy, safety and economic growth. Pieter Paul is levaraging his experiences and his network to make a difference in this domain.

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About the company

This event is delivered in partnership with nlmtd, an award-winning consultancy (top 5 in Organizational Advice in the MT1000 survey for five years running) specializing in ecosystem innovation. They will bring their most inspiring clients and real-world case studies, making this a insightful and memorable day.

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