On 20 November 2025, the Rafael del Pino Foundation organised the dialogue “Industrial innovation, national defence and strategic independence” in which the following took part Lorin Selvy former US Chief of naval Research and Luis Pérez Breva, Director, MIT Innovation Teams.
Luis Perez-Breva is an innovator, entrepreneur and expert in the practice and development of innovation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also the Rafael del Pino Professor. Professor Perez-Breva has guided more than 170 MIT new technology projects to uncover opportunities to realise MIT's mission of making a positive impact on our society and has trained, guided, mentored and educated more than 200 teams of entrepreneurs and innovators around the world. He currently leads MIT's flagship programme in applied innovation, MIT Innovation Teams: a joint programme and course from MIT's School of Engineering and MIT Business School. He has recently co-led the innovation arm of MIT's partnership with Russia to create a new model university based on training innovators (MIT Skoltech Initiative) and is also collaborating on several such international initiatives in Portugal, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. Dr. Perez-Breva holds degrees in Chemical Engineering, Business, Physics, and Artificial Intelligence obtained in Spain (Institut Quimic de Sarrià), France (Ecole Normale Supérieure), and USA (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
Rear Admiral Lorin Selby is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor's degree in Nuclear Engineering and earned his commission through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps programme. He also holds a master's degree in Nuclear Engineering and a Nuclear Engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His shipboard assignments include the USS Puffer (SSN 652), USS Pogy (SSN 647) and USS Connecticut (SSN 22). From July 2004 to May 2007, he commanded the USS Greeneville (SSN 772) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. During these missions, Selby conducted several deployments to the Western Pacific, North Pacific, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Ashore, Selby's staff assignments include company officer and instructor at the US Naval Academy, deputy director of the Navy's liaison office to the US House of Representatives, and chief of the Submarine Platforms and Strategic Programmes Branch in the Naval Staff's Undersea Warfare Directorate. After being selected as an acquisition professional, he served as programme manager for both the Undersea Imaging and Electronic Systems Programme Office (PMS 435) and the Advanced Undersea Systems Programme Office (PMS 394). As a senior officer, Selby served as commander of the Naval Surface Warfare Centres (NSWC) from October 2014 to August 2016. In this role, he led more than 17,000 civilian and active duty scientists, engineers, technicians and support personnel in eight NSWC divisions across the country. From June 2016 to May 2020, he served as the Navy's chief engineer and deputy commander of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) for ship design, integration and naval engineering (SEA 05), where he directed the engineering and scientific expertise, knowledge and technical authority required to design, build, maintain, repair, modernise, certify and dispose of the Navy's ships, aircraft carriers, submarines and associated combat systems and weaponry. In May 2020, he assumed command of the Office of Naval Research as the 26th chief of Naval Research. Selby is authorized to wear the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (three decorations), Meritorious Service Medal (four decorations), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (six decorations) and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (three decorations), in addition to various unit decorations.
Summary:
The competitiveness of advanced economies is entering a new phase, marked by the convergence of industrial innovation, technological capacity and national security. This was one of the central ideas of the dialogue «Industrial innovation, national defence and strategic independence».» held at the Rafael del Pino Foundation, with the participation of Admiral (ret.) Lorin Selby, ex US Chief of Naval Research, and Luis Pérez-Breva, director of the MIT Innovation Teams programme.
A new defence-driven industrial paradigm
The debate started from a shared diagnosis: the global technological frontier is moving at unprecedented speed. The combination of artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced sensors and autonomy is reshaping entire industries - transport, energy, logistics, manufacturing - as well as geopolitical balances. Selby recalled that, historically, a significant part of the major innovations that are then transferred to the civilian economy originate from government-funded R&D, especially in defence. The clearest example is the Office of Naval Research (ONR) The US-based company, created in 1946: an institution that invests from basic science at universities to working prototypes in companies, playing the role of first strategic investor country.
This scheme - government, academia and business collaborating in the same innovation circuit - is one of the factors that explain the United States' leading position in sectors such as semiconductors, communications, software and aerospace.
The “prototype trap” and the challenge of technology transfer
Both Selby and Pérez-Breva agreed on a problem common to all developed economies: enormous scientific knowledge is generated, but a significant part of it is trapped in reports, patents or prototypes that do not reach the market or the public sector. That transfer gap -What Selby calls the “virtual technology shelf” represents a huge economic cost: investments already made that do not translate into productivity, competitiveness or technological autonomy.
To address this, Perez-Breva explained his methodology of applied innovation, developed at MIT: combining existing technologies (combinatorial innovation), orienting them towards real problems and accelerating their deployment in the market. This methodology has generated more than 200 projects and dozens of deep tech companies in the USA, and is beginning to be transferred to Spain through pilot programmes promoted by the Foundation.
Europe and Spain in the face of strategic autonomy
The dialogue focused on the European situation. In a context of global technological rivalry, Europe faces three challenges:
R&D investment deficit, especially in basic science and enabling technologies.
Industrial capacity shortfall in areas such as microelectronics, batteries, robotics and naval defence.
Lack of speedRegulatory and budgetary processes that delay the deployment of innovations.
Selby also warned of the acceleration of the China, Europe is no longer simply copying, but innovating and scaling up key technologies very quickly. For Europe, this means strengthening alliances, coordinating its industrial and technological policy and focusing on defence that is not only military, but economic and strategic.
Defence as an economic driver
One of the most relevant conclusions of the event was that defence should not be interpreted exclusively as military spending, but rather as industrial innovation and competitiveness lever. The transition to systems “small, agile and numerous”The "smart" technology - drones, autonomous systems, low-cost sensors - is already transforming the manufacturing industry and opens up a window of opportunity for European and Spanish technology companies with the ability to prototype rapidly and scale.
The case of Ukraine, The Russian government, which has neutralised billions in Russian assets with low-cost autonomous systems, is an extreme but telling example: rapid, distributed innovation is redefining both conflict and the industry around it.
The human factor and future productivity
Despite the centrality of technology, Selby stressed that the real competitive differential will continue to be the talent. Without sufficient critical mass in STEM, without scientific leadership and without a culture of risk and learning, no economy will be able to maintain its industrial and technological autonomy. Furthermore, he argued that AI should not be conceived as a substitute for human labour, but as a tool to liberate the human workforce. intellectual time, just as the industrial revolution freed up physical time. In an information-saturated world, reclaiming critical thinking time will be an economic and democratic advantage.
Conclusion: a country agenda
The dialogue left a clear message: strategic autonomy is no longer just a geopolitical concept, but a economic imperative. For Spain and Europe it implies:
investing sustainably in science and talent;
rebuilding advanced industrial capacities;
integrating defence innovation into industrial strategy;
accelerate technology transfer;
and promote long-term oriented leadership.
The Rafael del Pino Foundation, both speakers stressed, can play a key role in this change, acting as a bridge between research, business and social leadership.
The Rafael del Pino Foundation is not responsible for the comments, opinions or statements made by the people who participate in its activities and which are expressed as a result of their inalienable right to freedom of expression and under their sole responsibility. The contents included in the summary of this conference are the result of the debates held at the meeting held for this purpose at the Foundation and are the responsibility of their authors.
The Rafael del Pino Foundation is not responsible for any comments, opinions or statements made by third parties. In this respect, the FRP is not obliged to monitor the views expressed by such third parties who participate in its activities and which are expressed as a result of their inalienable right to freedom of expression and under their own responsibility. The contents included in the summary of this conference are the result of the discussions that took place during the conference organised for this purpose at the Foundation and are the sole responsibility of its authors.
