More than 100 programmers, technicians and defence specialists are meeting at a secret location in Almere for the European Defense Tech Hackathon, organized by the European Defense Tech Hub and TechConnect Almere Community. They are working on solutions involving drone detection and countermeasures, resilient communications, autonomous vehicles, navigation without GPS and maritime security. The organizers plan to present the results on Sunday.

Participants include Almere resident Stijn Sprenkels, who works for NATO’s NCIA and co-owns the software company Wonderbit, and Paul Hempler, who is developing the Polarbee technology for navigation when GPS is unavailable. The organizers say the event highlights opportunities for Almere and Flevoland to develop as a regional centre for defence and security technology.