Know Hub Chile will host the Dual Hub Summit 2025 at the University of Bío-Bío on May 6–7. This will be the first dual-use innovation summit in Latin America, bringing together startups, universities, defense companies, investors, and stakeholders from the R&D&I ecosystem, with the aim of positioning Chile as a regional leader in dual-use technologies.
According to Know Hub Chile, the goal of this initiative is to establish a platform for collaboration among the scientific community, the defense sector, industry, and the government to foster dual-use innovation in Chile, promoting technologies that address the country’s strategic challenges and generate public value, productive development, and technological capabilities with national and international impact.
The event—the first of its kind in the region—will mark a turning point in how we view technological innovation: not as an isolated effort, but as a synergy between universities, research centers, companies, startups, the Armed Forces, public agencies, and investors.
In this way, the Dual Hub Summit 2025 will help achieve the strategic goal of creating technological solutions that serve both civilian and military sectors, thereby driving national growth and enhancing the country’s international profile.
“At Know Hub Chile, we firmly believe that a country’s development is built on trust, knowledge, and cooperation among sectors that have often worked in isolation,” says Executive Director Javier Ramírez. “That is why we have committed to creating a space that brings together technological capabilities, national challenges, and multisectoral collaboration,” he adds.
Domestic technological development
The event, which is sponsored by Lockheed Martin and supported by Corfo and the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID), is organized by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at the University of Bío-Bío, the Biobío Regional Government, Fidae, the Chilean Air Force, and the Chilean Navy’s Center for Technological Innovation (CITA).
The Dual Hub Summit 2025 brings together public and private stakeholders from both the domestic and international spheres, and the event aims to position Chile as a regional leader in dual innovation, contributing not only to economic development but also to the country’s technological autonomy and strategic security.
One of the main areas of focus will be shipbuilding, which includes a series of initiatives aimed at revitalizing the country’s shipbuilding industry. As part of this effort, the Avante 04 program—developed in collaboration with the Chilean Navy—will be presented; it seeks to provide technological solutions drawn from the science, technology, knowledge, and innovation (STKI) ecosystem.
The first Dual Hub Summit will bring together leading representatives from the national and international space ecosystem, including Erin Flores (Arquitectura Espacial Chile and Vortic), Guler Kocak (Spacelis, Turkey), Loreto Moraga (Achide), Elise Servajean (CATA), and Sebasthian Ogalde (Andes Aerospace).
Over the course of two days, this conference will address key questions regarding national technological development: How can we work together to build a dual-track future? How can the defense sector drive regional industrial and technological development? How can we forge paths of collaboration between science, industry, and the government?