After two years, with EXCITE concluded, the cluster team faced two options: take on another similar inter-cluster project, or step back and look at which new sectors matter most to Lithuanian business today, and adapt the cluster’s services to them.
Honestly, we chose not one but both. In this article — where we’re headed.
Operational responsibility in the cluster
Let me start with the main thing: day-to-day cluster work, project administration and liaison with EU institutions is handled by Minvydas Latauskas. Over the past year he led the EXCITE project from Dresden to Bilbao — experience that will now serve every future project well. My own role stays strategic — representation, contacts with government institutions, ESCA benchmarking expertise, and cybersecurity policy matters in the Seimas and EU working groups.
Three directions we’re focused on for the next two years
1. Cybersecurity and NIS2 compliance in Lithuanian business
In October, the EU’s new NIS2 directive takes effect in Lithuania, dramatically widening the circle of companies required to meet cybersecurity requirements — from banks and energy to food production, transport, healthcare services, and even public-administration subcontractors. Lithuanian business is only superficially prepared for this change.
The BHV cluster today has quite a few members working in cybersecurity, who’ll be able to help other cluster members and partners prepare for NIS2 compliance. We’re planning this as one of the cluster’s core services for 2024–2025.
2. AI in business — not hype, but real work processes
I know the “AI” topic is so overused that many executives simply tune it out. But the practical reality has changed dramatically over the past twelve months — generative AI has become a real productivity tool for developers, marketing teams, customer service, and lawyers. Cluster members need a methodology: how to integrate AI safely, what data can be entrusted to it, how to evaluate vendors.
Minvydas and I are currently preparing a closed workshop series for BHV members — the first one planned for September.
3. Defense technology — new, but unavoidable
In the Lithuanian context, defense industry is no longer a niche topic in 2024. In recent weeks we’ve seen reports of defense-park projects worth €500 million, drone manufacturers, autonomous-systems startups. We have members in the cluster already reconsidering how their civilian products could apply to dual — civilian and military — use (so-called dual-use).
Here, BHV’s role won’t be to take part in defense itself, but to help members understand the regulatory environment, export-license questions, and NATO programme opportunities.
What this means concretely for 2024–2025
- We’ll continue participating in international cluster programmes — tracking the Horizon Europe Cluster Booster Programme and Interreg calls;
- We’re refreshing the cluster member service package — from NIS2 compliance to practical AI working groups;
- We’ll implement the ECEI Bronze Label certification (I wrote about this in a separate article);
- We’ll reactivate BHV’s co-working and Tech-Hub spaces for members — infrastructure that got a bit forgotten during the EXCITE project.
We’ll announce concrete first steps — with event dates and registration links — separately. Cluster members get information directly through Minvydas.
— Marius Pareščius, President of the BHV cluster