Abstrakt:

This case study examines the implementation of dual-use technologies as an execution challenge, shaped by recurring barriers, including confidentiality and information constraints, testing and validation, regulatory compliance, controlled access to end users, and extended integration cycles. Against this backdrop, Krakow Technology Park (KPT) is described as a “platform of implementation instruments” that combines incubation, acceleration programs, DIH/EDIH services, seed-stage financing instruments, and brokerage functions and sector initiatives. Together, these elements form a pipeline that can support projects from the idea stage to piloting and scaling.

The core of the case study compares two facilitation pathways. The first is KPT ScaleUp Booster, where startup–Technology Recipient collaboration is organized around a milestone-based grant disbursed in tranches and a minimum governance package, including NDAs, IP clarification, infrastructure access, and liability requirements, non-compete provisions, and implementation priority rights. The second pathway is FORT Kraków, DIANA Accelerator Poland, launched in January 2026 as a joint initiative of AGH University of Science and Technology and KPT, and presented as the Polish node in the NATO DIANA network. The findings suggest that the operator’s value stems primarily from combining pipeline, governance, and access to testing environments and end users, while also facing limitations such as lock-in risk, formal and administrative burden, and the need to clearly distinguish dual-use from arms trading.