BIP
Security Architecture and the Power of Technology : the 2nd Wroclaw East x West Forum
“The world stands on the brink of unprecedented threats, but also unprecedented opportunities” – with these words, Tom Rose, the United States Ambassador to Poland, opened the key panel of this year’s East x West Forum. The second edition of the event, organized by the BRIDGE Foundation, brought together leaders in diplomacy, the defense sector, and technological innovation in Wrocław to jointly outline a strategy for Poland and the CEE region in the face of the “New Old Order.”
This year’s forum became a platform for debating the blurring boundaries between national security and the economy. The participation of Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, along with senior representatives of the United States administration and the European Space Agency (ESA), confirmed that Poland is no longer merely an observer of global change but has become a key hub shaping it.
Technology as the New Currency of Power
The central theme of the discussions was the role of dual-use innovation. Participants in panels dedicated to the “Polish Drone Republic” emphasized that lessons learned from beyond Poland’s eastern border are forcing an immediate transformation of industry.
We can no longer separate commercial success from state resilience. Our goal is to move Poland from a position of an assembly hub to a decision-making center, where technologies ensuring the security of NATO’s entire eastern flank are developed,
stressed Maciej Borkowski of the BRIDGE Foundation.
Three Pillars of the New Strategy
During the Forum, key conclusions were developed around three main areas:
Supply Chain Diplomacy:
In the face of Western reindustrialization and the trend of friend-shoring, Polish investments in the semiconductor sector are becoming assets of strategic importance.
Technological Sovereignty:
Discussions involving representatives of the space sector confirmed that Europe’s autonomy in data and connectivity cannot be achieved without the active participation of companies from Central and Eastern Europe.
Ukraine as a Testing Ground for Innovation:
The forum served as a venue for discussions on concrete partnerships with Ukraine, which currently represents the most demanding real-world testing environment for defense technologies globally.
Wroclaw as a Center of Strategic Thought
The choice of Wrocław as the host city was no coincidence. As a hub of Poland’s high-tech sector, it perfectly reflects the ambitions of the BRIDGE Foundation—to connect science, business, and high-level politics.
East x West Forum is more than just a conference. It is a think tank where we forge concrete solutions. Ambassador Rose’s words about unprecedented opportunities are a call to action. Today, Poland has a unique chance to become an architect of a new power architecture in Europe,
the organizers concluded.
About the BRIDGE Foundation
The BRIDGE Foundation is a strategic think tank focused on building bridges between the public sector, the economy, and the technology sphere. Through initiatives such as the East x West Forum, the foundation supports the development of Poland’s economic and technological agency on the international stage.