Decent Cybersecurity Selected for NATO DIANA Challenge; SynapseCommand to Integrate with MSS NATO

Prague / Teplice, Czech Republic. Decent Cybersecurity s.r.o. has been selected by the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) for the "Decision Superiority for NATO Warfighters" programme with its SynapseCommand solution. Ten solutions made the cut: selected in the NATO DIANA Decision Superiority Challenge, ranking in the top 2.34% of 427 submissions across 29 Allied nations. The company's participation was supported by the Czech Ministry of Defence, CzechInvest and the Defence and Security Industry Association of the Czech Republic (AOBP).

Built around MSS NATO

DIANA announced the results on 9 July 2026 together with Allied Command Operations (ACO), headquartered at SHAPE in Mons, Belgium. Alongside Decent Cybersecurity, the selected companies are Matrix Pro Sims, Hadean, Watchtower Labs, Flai, Grist Mill Exchange, ETE Technology, Onebrief, Picogrid and Levato AS. Each receives €100,000 to integrate and demonstrate its solution with the Alliance's operational users.

The challenge is built on the Maven Smart System NATO (MSS NATO), a digital warfighting platform from US-based Palantir Technologies. It was procured by the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) in March 2025 for SHAPE; the acquisition took six months and ranks among the fastest in the Alliance's history. MSS NATO is an open and extensible platform into which vendor solutions integrate via API. On the NATO side, the system is owned by Task Force Maven at SHAPE.

NATO is not looking for more data in this programme, but for the ability to plan at the pace at which the situation changes. The entry bar was Technology Readiness Level 7 and above, meaning technology proven in an operational environment. There is no preparatory phase and no second round: companies go straight into workshops with ACO and must integrate with one another as well. Successful participants are then eligible for follow-on contracts without further competition.

Sovereign AI, post-quantum by design

SynapseCommand is built on sovereign artificial intelligence and post-quantum cryptography. Sovereign AI means models operated under European control, on infrastructure where it is clear who accesses the data and where it stays. Post-quantum protection addresses the other side of the same problem: every input into the operating picture is also an attack surface, and a spoofed input does not slow the decision loop down, it accelerates a wrong decision. ML-DSA signature verification takes tens of microseconds, so it does not delay the decision loop; SLH-DSA serves as a conservative backup for long-term trust anchors. Both NIST standards are designed to withstand attack by a quantum computer.

“You couldn't apply to this challenge with a slide deck and a promise. The bar was technology proven in operation. But I want to be precise: this is not a deployment contract. It is the opportunity to demonstrate our solution to the people who would rely on it to make decisions in an operation.”

Matej Michalko, founder, chairman, ceo, Decent Cybersecurity

“In the Czech Republic, the perception persists that only large multinational corporations get into NATO programmes. Yet the criteria are technical. I appreciate the support of the Czech Ministry of Defence, CzechInvest and AOBP. There are more Czech teams that clear this bar than there are teams applying.”

Karel Marčík, Country Manager, Decent Cybersecurity for the Czech Republic

The selected companies will spend the coming months integrating with NATO entities in a cloud environment. The programme culminates in a demonstration phase by December 2026.

About Decent Cybersecurity

Decent Cybersecurity specialises in sovereign artificial intelligence, post-quantum cryptography and quantum-resistant blockchain for the protection of critical infrastructure. It operates in space and satellite communications, aerospace and defence, and unmanned traffic management. In addition to the Czech Republic, it has entities in Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The company holds industrial security clearance at the Secret level nationally as well as towards the EU and NATO, ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certifications, is a registered NSPA supplier, an NCIA Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) holder and a member of AOBP.

The original press release (in Czech) was distributed via Protext ČTK on 4 August 2026 and is available at https://www.protext.cz/zpravy/show/58650.