Governance and Responsibility
Framework for responsible, evaluation-led defence engagement.
Governance Overview
Praesidium Defence operates under a governance framework designed to support responsible, transparent, and evaluation-led engagement with defence stakeholders.
The company’s activities are intentionally constrained to technical evaluation, experimentation support, and capability exploration. Praesidium Defence does not act as a procurement agent, platform vendor, or systems integrator for operational deployment.
All engagement is conducted in a manner consistent with Estonian law, applicable European Union regulations, and relevant NATO experimentation practices for defence experimentation and innovation.
Role and Responsibility
Praesidium Defence acts as the Estonian anchor entity supporting the evaluation of early-stage autonomy architectures under controlled conditions.
During Phase-1 activity, Praesidium Defence’s role is limited to technical coordination, integration support, and facilitation of disciplined evaluation activity under Ministry of Defence oversight.
Praesidium Defence does not make operational decisions, does not direct military activity, and does not assume authority over deployed systems.
Risk and Liability Boundaries
Phase-1 activities are experimental and non-operational in nature. No deployment, certification, or operational use is implied or supported.
All evaluation activity is conducted under defined scope, controlled conditions, and Ministry of Defence oversight. No claims are made regarding safety, effectiveness, or suitability outside the context of the evaluation itself.
Responsibility for operational use, deployment decisions, and force employment remains solely with the Estonian Ministry of Defence.
Ethical and Safety Position
The PERSEUS architecture evaluated through Praesidium Defence is designed with explicit emphasis on explainability, auditability, and retained human authority.
Artificial intelligence within the evaluated architecture does not directly command actuators, does not select or engage targets, and does not replace human command or control.
Evaluation activity is conducted to support understanding and risk reduction, not to accelerate deployment or capability adoption.
Data and Outputs
All data, artefacts, logs, and evaluation outputs generated during Phase-1 activity are treated as Ministry of Defence-owned material.
Praesidium Defence does not publish, disclose, or externally reference evaluation findings without explicit Ministry authorisation.
No external validation, certification, or endorsement is implied by participation in Phase-1 evaluation activity.
Relationship to Procurement
Engagement with Praesidium Defence does not constitute a procurement activity and does not create acquisition intent, obligation, or preference.
Phase-1 evaluation activity is explicitly separated from procurement decision-making processes. Any future consideration of capability development or acquisition would require separate, independent decision processes initiated by the Ministry of Defence.
No assumptions regarding follow-on activity should be inferred from participation in Phase-1.
Closing Statement
Praesidium Defence exists to support disciplined, low-risk exploration of emerging autonomy concepts where such exploration is deemed useful by defence stakeholders.
Governance structures are intentionally conservative, transparent, and designed to protect Ministry decision-makers from unintended commitment, exposure, or escalation.
Further Information
For official enquiries relating to technical evaluation or defence experimentation, please refer to the Phase-1 Evaluation overview or contact Praesidium Defence via official channels.
