For defence-tech and security-technology SMEs, this call offers substantial national grant funding (up to PLN 10m per project, 100% intensity for non-economic R&D and de minimis coverage for pre-deployment work) to develop AI-powered video-analytics capabilities directly applicable to surveillance, anomaly detection, and autonomous-transport safety – all areas of clear dual-use and security relevance.
- The phased structure with gate reviews reduces waste while ensuring results reach deployment readiness, and the open-source/open-data requirement creates reusable baseline assets that can accelerate follow-on commercial or defence procurement bids.
- Polish SMEs and research-industry consortia with computer-vision or situational-awareness IP should treat this as a primary national pathway before pursuing EDF or other EU-level instruments.