Many times SMEs are the heart of the innovation area within the security and defence industry. By taking advantage of their size, they often have a better ability to adapt to new conditions and greater flexibility than larger companies. This gives them better prospects for identifying opportunities in new technologies and business areas.
At the same time the security and defence industry is capital-intensive, and it operates in a conjunction between political and commercial factors which raise barriers to market penetration for SMEs. Several major security and defence companies have also developed a strong dependence on SMEs as suppliers, which means there is a strong common interest for SOFF to address issues in both a national and an international context.
Link to the European Commission’s Action plan for entrepreneurship 2020