BSC STARTUP CHALLENGE, 3 November 2026
Sponsored by PwC
16:00 Introduction
16:05 Setting the Scene
16:15 Pitch & Evaluation
08.00 Opening of the Exhibition / Registration
08.30 Announcements, National Anthems
08.45 Welcome to the Congress
Dr Eva-Charlotte Proll, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, Behörden Spiegel & Dr Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Member of the European Parliament and Congress President BSC
09.00 OPENING OF THE CONFERENCE - Opening Ceremony
Gitanas Nausėda, President, Republic of Lithuania
09.20 Keynote / Q+A
Andrius Kubilius, Commissioner for Defence and Space, European Commission
09.40 INTERVIEW / Q+A BY THE AUDITORIUM European NATO pillar towards safe Europe and safer world
Chair: Dr Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Member of the European Parliament and Congress President BSC
- Kęstutis Budrys, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lithuania
- Florian Hahn, Minister of State, Federal Foreign Office, Germany
10.30 Breaking the Innovation Barrier: How to scale Europe’s Defence & Resilience Adaptation and Delivery at Speed
Anna Lena Hohmann, Senior Manager PwC
10.50 Coffee Break
11.30 Sovereign Digitalisation as a Security Imperative. Building Resilience Together in a World of Multipolar Threats.
Prof Dr Martin Kaloudis, Executive Vice President, Bechtle
11.50 HIGH-LEVEL DEBATE Deterrence through Vigilance: How to contain the Russian interference
Chair: Dr Eva-Charlotte Proll, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, Behörden Spiegel
- Baiba Braže, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Latvia
- Ejup Maqedonic, Minister of Defence, Kosovo
- H.E. Ambassador Dr Detlef Wächter, German Permanent Representative to NATO
- Lieutenant General Remigijus Baltrėnas, Director General of the International Military Staff, NATO
- General Ingo Gerhartz, Commander, Joint Force Command Brunssum
13.00 Lunchtime
14.15 PANELS SESSIONS A1 – A9 and SIDE EVENT: “The Future of the Military Reserve”
15.45 Coffee Break
16.15 Balancing Immediate Needs with Long-Term Sovereignty: Hard Choices for European Defence
Dr Michael Schoellhorn, CEO, Airbus Defence and Space
16.35 Keynote & Q+A
Air Chief Marshal Sir John Stringer KCB CBE, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, NATO
17.00 LEADERS’ TALK “The Central Region as the litmus test for a credible Defence”
Chair: Admiral (ret.) Rob Bauer, former Chairman, NATO Military Committee
- General Raimundas Vaikšnoras, Chief of Defence, Lithuania
- Lieutenant General Dariusz Parylak, Commander, Multinational Corps Northeast, NATO
- General Carsten Breuer, Chief of Defence, Germany
- Lieutenant General Carl Edström, Chief of Defence Staff, Swedish Armed Forces
- Major General Christopher Norrie, Acting Commander USAREUR-AF
18.00 A Positive Vision for Mission Readiness in an Overextended Environment
Fatih Cam, Managing Director, Atos Germany
18.20 HIGH-LEVEL DEBATE Credible engagement in the South
Chair: Javier Colomina, Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood, NATO
- Antonio Tajani*, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Italy
- José Manuel Albares Bueno*, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Spain
- N.N., Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Portugal
- Dr Enver Hoxhaj, Member of Parliament and former Deputy Prime Minister, Republic of Kosovo
19.20 Buffet & Networking
08.00 Opening of the Exhibition
08.30 OPENING OF THE 2ND CONFERENCE DAY WITH DISCUSSION/Q+A/MOU
Boris Pistorius, Minister of Defence, Germany & Robertas Kaunas, Minister of Defence, Lithuania
09.20 Keynote
Nicole Sturm, Global Head of Aerospace & Defense, Siemens
09.50 Keynote and Q+A by Auditorium
Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, Chairman, NATO Military Committee
10.15 HIGH-LEVEL DEBATE “Europe and NATO: Together Strong”
Chair: Dr Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Member of the European Parliament and Congress President BSC
- H.E. Matthew G. Whitaker, U.S. Ambassador to NATO
- Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, Chairman, NATO Military Committee
- David Cvach, Deputy Secretary General for Peace, Security and Defense, EEAS
- Éric Béranger, Chief Executive Officer, MBDA
- Nuno Melo, Minister of National Defence, Portugal
- Airis Rikveilis, State Secretary Ministry of Defence, Latvia
11:15 Coffee Break
11.30 Al Didn’t Just Change Security It Changes the Enemy
Morton Swimmer, Principal Threat Researcher, Forward Threat Research AI and Data, Trend AI
11.50 Keynote
N.N.
12.10 TAKING STOCK DISCUSSION European Capability Development
Chair: Michael Gahler, MEP
- Lieutenant General Stefano Cont, Director for Capability Armament & Planning, European Defence Agency
- Dr Andreas Schwarz, Head of Cabinet to Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva for Startups, Research and Innovation, European Commission
- Tarja Jaakkola, Assistant Secretary General for Defence Industry, Innovation and Armaments, NATO
- Dr Christoph Erdmann, Managing Director, Secusmart
- Oleg Dunda, Member of Parliament of Ukraine
13.00 Lunch time
14.00 PANELS SESSIONS B1 – B8 and SIDE EVENT: “Drones”, “EPIS Thinktank”
15.30 INTERVIEW / Q+A BY THE AUDITORIUM
Chair: Reinhard Wolski, Major General (ret) and Chairman BSC
- Ambassador Francois Chih-chung Wu, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan
- Lieutenant General Jih-Sheng Hsieh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence, Ministry of Defence, Taiwan
- Fei-Fan Lin, Deputy Secretary General, National Security Council, Taiwan
16.00 Coffee Break
16.15 Two Seas, One Security: Strengthening Europe’s Defence Through Baltic-Mediterranean Cooperation
Gabriele Gambarara, Vice President & Board Member, ELT Group
16.35 WINNER-PITCH – START-UP CHALLENGE PRESENTATION
16.45 HIGH-LEVEL DEBATE Harmonizing Europe and Indo-Pacific Priorities
Chair: Dr Tobias Lindner, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (ret.)
- H.E. Ambassador Mitsuko Shino, Japan
- N.N., State Secretary or Political Director, Republic of Korea
- H.E. Ambassador Natasha Smith, Australia
- Robert Peters, Acting Director of the Allison Center of National Security, Heritage Foundation
17.45 Handover Ceremony to the next Partner Nation
18.05 Closing Session and Farewell
Chairman BSC & Congress President
18.25 End of Congress
BSC STARTUP CHALLENGE, 4 November 2026
Sponsored by PwC
11:15 Introduction
11:20 Setting the Scene
11:30 Pitch & Evaluation
16:20 Winner Pitch on the main stage
*speakers requested