Skopje, 28 June 2022 (MIA) – Ten teams, of which three from the country will compete in the final competition for a best innovative solution for identification, warning, assessment and management of biological threats to protect NATO forces, allies and civilians – NATO Innovation Hub Challenge 2022. Tuesday’s opening of the final competition, which is organized by the General Mihailo Apostolski military Academy in cooperation with NATO’s Allied Command Transformation (ACT), was addressed by Deputy Defense Minister Bashkim Hasani, the Ministry of Defense said in a press release. He thanked all applicants in the project, the Military Academy, NATO’s ACT for their contribution in the unique challenge that brings everyone closer to the common goal of effective collective defense. “As the 30^th and newest NATO member, the Republic of North Macedonia offered its intellectual and organizational capabilities to organize this competition on the most innovative concepts to provide an effective and efficient bioresponse in building greater resilience in today’s world, disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and equally by wars, conflicts and natural disasters,” Hasani said. This is the first joint project of the Military Academy and NATO’s ACT Innovation Hub, and the project’s theme is related to the emergence of infectious biological agents, which is usually preceded by incidents that may be intentionally caused or resulting from natural disasters and mutations. The competition, which was announced in March this year, with the topic BIORESPONSE, had applications from 20 teams from across the world. Fifteen NATO monitors evaluated the projects and decided that 10 teams, three of which from North Macedonia, will compete in the final competition. The prize pool for the competition is USD 8,500.