Ally1
An AI defence co-pilot that guides innovators and institutional innovation managers through NATO's growing technology ecosystem — from dual-use readiness assessment to a personalised 12–24 month engagement roadmap.
Purpose
Europe's dual-use innovation ecosystem is fragmented: ineffective investments, uneasy public-private partnerships and poor dual-use technology adoption. Ally1 — a spin-off of the GATE Institute, itself a NATO DIANA Test Centre — guides innovators and institutional innovation managers through NATO's innovation platforms with a clear roadmap and practical AI tools, structured around three stages: Awareness (understanding NATO programmes, technology priorities and open calls), Preparation (dual-use readiness assessment, benchmarking against official NATO priorities, pitch-deck development, funding and registration advice) and Engagement (a co-created 12–24 month roadmap with task management and progress tracking). Its modules cover readiness evaluation across seven dimensions, innovation benchmarking, dual-use pitch development, registrations and paperwork, conferences, NATO centres of excellence, allied test centres and accelerators, and dual-use venture capital.
Who it is for
Innovators and startups that need a clear path into NATO programmes — assessing readiness, building technical and marketing documents, exploring funding and following a specific roadmap — and innovation managers, accelerator owners, fund managers and institutional leaders who need portfolio visibility, readiness tracking and data-driven strategic initiatives on dual-use. The platform offers two-factor authentication, GDPR compliance, and encryption in transit and at rest.
What it produces
Dual-use readiness assessments, benchmark reports against official NATO technology priorities, dual-use pitch decks, registration and documentation support, personalised 12–24 month engagement roadmaps with daily task management, and dashboards that track progress, funding and engagement with allied test centres — with access to one-on-one expert consultation.
Method note
Ally1 is a spin-off of the GATE Institute at Sofia University, a NATO DIANA Test Centre, built by the team behind CORE's dual-use technologies work — Prof. Dr. Boris Bankov and Ivan Draganov are among its founders. It draws on sustained engagement with NATO innovation platforms since 2023, including DIANA, the Data and AI Review Board, the Crisis Management and Disaster Response CoE, the NCIA, EADRCC, the Science and Technology Organization and Allied Command Transformation. Product and performance claims are the developer's own.