Interview with John Rodrigues, Business Development Director at INOV – INESC Inovação, on INOV’s positioning as a leading technology partner, the strategic opportunities emerging in the Aerospace and Defence sectors, and the role of technology and disruptive innovation in strengthening companies and national competitiveness. Published in Mais Magazine (22/05/2026).
The current European investment landscape in Space, Defence and critical technologies is creating new opportunities for companies and technology centres. How is INOV positioning itself within this ecosystem?
European investment in Defence and Space is now a structural geopolitical priority. European value chains are consolidating around those who already have a presence and who operate at the frontier of knowledge. INOV combines an active position in applied R&D with more than 20 years of operational experience, national, EU and NATO accreditation, as well as collaboration with ESA since 1998. Accumulated experience and disruptive innovation are not opposites — they are precisely what defines INOV.
How does INOV support companies in the development, testing and acceleration of advanced technological solutions?
In a market evolving at high speed, building all specialised R&D capabilities internally is both slow and costly. INOV acts as a qualified extension of companies’ technical teams, accelerating development cycles, reducing infrastructure investment requirements, and supporting access to programmes such as ESA initiatives and Defence funding instruments. Companies gain speed, technical depth and the conditions needed to position themselves at the forefront of innovation. In addition, all intellectual property generated remains with the company.
Which technologies are currently reshaping the aerospace industry, and in which domains has INOV been consolidating differentiated capabilities?
Cybersecurity, AI, autonomous systems and critical infrastructures are domains where technical maturity is measured in decades, yet disruption happens within months. INOV simultaneously operates at both speeds: maintaining a solid foundation of capabilities validated in demanding operational environments, while sustaining an active position at the leading edge of European research. For companies that need to innovate rapidly without compromising rigour, that combination is decisive.
The convergence between civil and Defence applications is one of the major trends shaping the sector. How is this convergence influencing technological development and the projects in which INOV is involved?
The boundary between civilian and military applications is increasingly blurred, and the pace at which new dual-use technologies emerge is accelerating. Organisations that fail to keep pace with this transformation will quickly fall outside the value chains that matter. INOV anticipated this convergence early on and has been building cross-cutting capabilities that continuously evolve to remain aligned with the state of the art in dual-use applications.
Based on your experience in national and European projects, which factors do you consider decisive for Portugal to strengthen its international relevance within Space and Defence technology value chains?
In a sector moving increasingly fast, international relevance is not built through technology alone — it is built through consistent participation in the right consortia, at the right time. Companies entering leading European programmes today are simultaneously validating their capabilities and positioning themselves for the larger-scale contracts that will follow. To accelerate that process without starting from scratch, it is essential to have a partner such as INOV — one that is already embedded in these networks, operates at the technological frontier, and understands the landscape.