#ESTMILTECH2026
January 14-15, 2026 in Tallinn, Estonia
About EstMil.tech 2026
The speed and efficiency of decision-making is the key to success on the battlefield. The rapid integration of technology into human decision-making creates many opportunities for facilitating military operations, while also raises new challenges and risks. For example, artificial intelligence (AI) may give nations advantages by increasing situational awareness and assisting with decision-making at machine speed, yet it could also involve risks, e.g. by recommending targets for lethal force and enabling military systems to take actions without human control. Introducing new technologies into the human-centered command chain also raises the question as to how AI techniques fit in to existing procedures, concepts, and capabilities of military organizations. To address the above issues, a systematic review would be essential. Decision-making systems should be looked at from an integrated perspective of cognitive, organizational, cultural, and ethical aspects of military decision-making and the role of technology in it.
The main theme of the conference is related to the challenges of technology in military decision-making. Sub-themes include the role of military AI in future conflicts, the impact of cognitive warfare, and the challenges of joint operations. Conference participants include security experts, representatives of armed forces and defence industry, as well as researchers involved in the development of emerging and dual-use technologies.
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The conference will cover the following topics:
• Future of military decision making
• Role of AI in future conflicts
• Cognitive warfare with superior adversary
• Cooperation models with academia and industry
Programme
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January 14-15, 2026 
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TalTech Conference Centre, Ehitajate tee 5, Tallinn, Estonia 
The conference is moderated by Mr. Neeme Raud ​
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Programme is continuously being updated, stay tuned!
Wednesday, January 14
Conference Programme and evening reception at the Seaplane Harbour Museum
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Wednesday, January 25
Conference Programme
Keynote speakers
Brad Boyd
Brad Boyd is a Visiting Fellow and Lecturer at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University focusing on the role of emerging technology in military autonomy and decision-making. Brad has 31 years of experience in the U.S. military including serving as a national security advisor to a U.S. Senator, as a senior aide to the Chief of Staff of the Army, and as the Director for AI-enabled warfighting development for the Department of Defense. Brad is also on the Board of Directors for Kratos Defense and is Co-founder of the defense technology firm Open Defense. He is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine, and Cambridge University.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Ole Flemisch
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Ole Flemisch started as an aerospace engineer with a specialization in systems engineering and system dynamics. After a couple of years in the management and training of safety critical systems in the German Airforce, he did his Ph.D. in Human Factors Engineering for Assistance and Automation at the University of German Armed Forces in Munich, which was the leading edge of autonomous driving and assistance system at that time. From 2001 to 2004 he pursued a NRC associateship on haptic-multimodal interaction with unmanned flying vehicles at NASA, Langley, USA. Transferring this work into the field of ground vehicles, he built up and led a research group for System Ergonomics & Design at the German Aerospace Center DLR, initiating and leading German and European projects on automotive assistant and automation systems, and served as the lead of a national standardization group and a technical expert in ISO TC204. He and his team, together with partners from academia and industry, coined the terms highly automated driving and cooperative automation. Beyond the work on assistance and automation he also engaged in research on fundamental questions concerning exploration, design and development processes. From 2011 to 2014, he was head of the Department for Human Machine Systems, and from 2014 to 2024 leading the department of Human System Integration at the Fraunhofer FKIE institute near Bonn, Germany. In 2024 he was appointed Fraunhofer FKIE’s Principal Scientist - Human Systems - Evangelist. He is also a Professor for Human Systems Integration at the RWTH Aachen University, Germany, and the Vice-Chair of NATO STO’s Human Factors and Medicine Panel.
During his academic life, Frank Flemisch received a couple a best presentation and best paper awards, since 2011 mainly by coaching teams of younger researchers. He is one of the principal researchers in a DFG cluster of excellence (Internet of production) of RWTH Aachen University, one of Germany Universities of Excellence, and is the speaker of the DFG-research group “Migration of Road Vehicle Automation”.
Conference Venue:
Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech)
Founded in 1918, TalTech is the flagship in engineering and IT science and education in Estonia, providing higher education at all levels in engineering and technology, information technology, economics, science, architecture and maritime. TalTech’s mission is to be a promoter of science, technology, and innovation and a leading provider of engineering and economic education in Estonia. TalTech is also becoming a modern digital campus that offers wide opportunities for smart city development and is a testing ground for Estonian companies to test their solutions.
With its scenic location in Mustamäe, TalTech is the only campus-type university in the Baltic countries and one of the most compact university campuses in Europe. Campus is the scene of many communal activities, with a large number of students, cultural and sports events. The campus of TalTech includes the Mektory Innovation and Business Centre and the Tehnopol Tallinn Science Park, where scientists, students and entrepreneurs meet to solve practical product development problems and generate new ideas for the future.
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