On 24 February, the second APPAU foresight session took place, which was a logical continuation of the online discussion on 10 February. While the first meeting was devoted to the analysis of non-technological factors (PESTEL, 2026 scenarios, strategic dilemmas), the second one focused on the inclusion of the technological component and the formation of specific initiatives. The main outcome of the session was the formation of the UA Automation Resilience Stack concept as a new position of the Ukrainian Industry 4.0–5.0 community in the EU. This publication is the final report of both sessions.

From non-technological constraints to the technological stack

The first stage of foresight showed that the trends of 2026 are determined not so much by technology as by constraints:

• war defines constant instability and shortages as the new reality,
• the energy crisis sets a new logic for investment (towards energy independence and resilience)
• the growing demographic crisis is exacerbating staffing problems, resulting in a widening gap between end customers’ demand for automation and the ability of integrators and engineering companies to meet it

For more details on the results of the first session, see the report on the first session.

Thus, within the IDEALIST Horizon Scanning methodology, we have come to the conclusion that future scenarios are shaped not so much by technological factors as by non-technological ones, where it is the war and its consequences that determine the growth in requirements for all types of resilience and where the staffing problem requires radical changes.

UA Automation Resilience Stack as a response to key drivers

In essence, UA Automation Resilience Stack is a response to the key drivers of change mentioned above. It is

a package of approaches, typical architectures, technological solutions and cooperation models that position the Ukrainian automation community as experts in industrial resilience.

This is not only about technology, but also about standards, typical solutions, ready-made consortia, joint engineering capabilities, as well as compatibility with EU approaches and standards.

The stack consists of five segments.

1.Energy Resilience Automation Stack

This is the most mature and commercially realistic direction for 2026. Energy resilience is becoming a new driver of automation — not only at the enterprise level, but also at the level of critical infrastructure clusters (energy, communications, water, transport).

Key components:

• Industrial EMS
• microgrid automation / smart grid
• ASKUE / ASTUE + analytics
• digital twins of energy systems
• predictive maintenance of energy assets
• OT-cyber for energy
• edge solutions for autonomous operation

New weak signals that reinforce this segment:

• transition from ‘one microgrid per enterprise’ to a multitude of small, semi-mobile micro-energy clusters for individual critical infrastructure nodes (data centres, hospitals, communication nodes, pumping stations), based on containerised BESS and ready-made plug-and-play OT modules;
• energy digital twins as simulators for scenarios of massive missile and drone attacks (multi-hazard twins, combining physical damage and OT cyberattacks);
• edge-OT logic that ensures the operation of individual ‘islands’ when communication with the centre is lost and supports degraded but safe modes;
• the introduction of Maintenance 5.0 approaches to energy assets — combining predictive analytics with operator knowledge to operate in non-standard modes during attacks and blackouts.

The session noted:

• the high potential of the regional power distribution companies and critical infrastructure operators segment,
• the need for deeper analysis of existing cases and the formation of a portfolio of battle-tested solutions,
• the holding of a separate public event (planned at KPI in May).

The Energoostrov working group has already been established at the UCA level, which includes the APPAU – accordingly, further cooperation and coordination will take place within this group and EDIH Kyiv Hitech.

2. Defence & Dual-use Automation

Taking into account IDEALIST (A&D) analytics – such as the growing role of cybersecurity, dependence on government orders, the need for flexible production, localisation of supply chains, as well as Ukrainian developments in the UCA Clusters4Defense programme, it was proposed to create a Defence Market Entry Toolkit. This is a comprehensive proposal for industrial automation providers – digitalisers for the defence industry, which should include:

• a map of entry channels into the defence industry,
• standard automation packages,
• proposals for adapted MES for flexible manufacturing,
• support for the implementation of CAD-CAM-CAE / PDM-PLM,
• wider distribution of computer vision/industrial AI solutions,
• a set of solutions, ready-made use cases and workflows in the rapid prototyping segment,
• digital twins of production lines.

Weak signals that will determine the development of the segment:

• the transition of the defence industry and MilTech to low-mid-volume, high-mix production (UAVs, electronics, new sensors), where MES/PLM must support very rapid changes in designs and routes;
• the emergence of MilTech microfactories — fully digitalised but physically distributed and mobile sites that can be quickly deployed and dismantled;
• built-in industrial cybersecurity (security by design) in every MilTech solution — from shop floor systems to field platforms (UAVs, electronic warfare, sensor networks);
• the formation of a separate class of battle-tested industrial solutions that have been tested in real-world attacks and are becoming a competitive advantage in the EU and NATO markets.

Separately noted:

• the need for active involvement of integrators of automated control systems for machine-building segments,
• cooperation with dual-use clusters (through the UCA),

Similar to the energy sector, coordination of participants in these initiatives will take place through inter-cluster cooperation at the UCA level, where there is a whole group of clusters already working in the Dual-use / MilTech sectors. At the EDIH Kyiv Hitech level, the Prosthetics Working Group should become the driver – this is important in terms of all technologies and prototyping directions, as well as understanding the transition to flexible manufacturing.

3. Supply Chain Digitalisation & EU Integration

Although this block was covered in less detail, the session confirmed its strategic importance. Technologies and applications such as track & trace, ERP–MES–WMS integration, carbon/ESG data automation, digital product passports, and compliance-ready architectures are a direct bridge to harmonising Ukrainian solutions for full integration into EU chains and ecosystems.

Weak signals that reinforce this bridge:

• development of chain-of-custody solutions for defence supply chains (origin of components, control of sanctions risks, compatibility with allies’ defence standards);
• the emergence of federated industrial data spaces (GAIA-X / Manufacturing-X and similar initiatives) as a target model for data integration between Ukrainian suppliers, EU OEMs and critical infrastructure operators;
• resilience-by-compliance architectures that simultaneously meet the requirements of NIS2, OI cybersecurity, NATO defence regulations and EU green standards, with maximum compliance automation;
• use of digital product passports not only for ESG but also for security attributes (secure-by-design, cyber rating, battlefield feedback).

Coordination in this block will be carried out through two working groups previously launched in SoP 5.0: the ‘Federated Platforms and Data Space’ working group and the ‘Rapid Prototyping’ working group.

4. Remote-first Delivery and Engineering Capability

Preliminary conclusions and discussions clearly show that the problem of declining capacity of local engineering firms and integrators clearly does not meet market challenges and growing demand in many segments.

The answer may lie in the formation of new approaches and standards for system integration, such as

• Remote commissioning / virtual FAT/SAT as a standard,
• industry guidelines for ‘Remote FAT/SAT for ACS’,
• short retraining programmes – advanced training for new roles – such as ACS project manager, commissioning engineer, OT security engineer, power supply automation engineer, etc.
• The emergence of the EDIH network also creates new opportunities for forming a pool of experts who can be engaged as a shared resource.

These are just a few options, but their expansion and supplementation (there was a lack of integrators at the 2nd session) can together form our ecosystem response to the shortage of personnel.

New weak signals:

• the formation of distributed engineering cells — small engineering teams united in a single network and distributed across regions of Ukraine and abroad, which operate as a single virtual integrator and ensure service continuity despite mobilisation, relocation, and blackouts;
• the emergence of ‘engineering as a service’ models for industry and the defence sector, allowing integrators to scale up without a significant increase in permanent staff;
• the use of VR/AR and digital twins in Remote FAT/SAT, where instead of one-off video calls, a standard, protocolised procedure with cyber protection and archiving is established;
• the introduction of ‘resilience skills’ into training programmes: engineers learn to work with the risks of attacks, blackouts and remote-first interaction, including through simulators and cyber ranges.

5. Industrial AI for resilience

AI is definitely hyped today and is a must-have technology for anyone who wants to keep up with the times. At the same time, global markets are already seeing a noticeable trend of falling expectations, as predicted by Gartner’s model. Accordingly, it is important for Ukrainian industrial segments to rely on the right directions and methodologies, as well as proven solutions from innovators. Among the top applications agreed upon by the APPAU community and those that provide ROI in 12–18 months are:

• predictive maintenance,
• anomaly detection,
• energy optimisation,
• AI-assisted planning,
• drone data processing.

AI is considered a module in Resilience Stack, which should be significantly enhanced by several EDIH partners (where the use of AI is a requirement of the European Commission).

Weak signals changing this module:

• the transition from narrow models to AI solutions for multi-hazard situations that simultaneously take into account physical damage, cyber incidents, human factors, and logistics disruptions;
• the emergence of ‘resilience AI dashboards’ for energy, water utility, and manufacturing operators — with data integration from OT, IT, drones, robots, and field teams;
• integration of drone- and robot-enabled sensing: data from UAVs and ground robots automatically enters damage assessment and repair planning systems (criticality-aware planning);
• development of human-centric/explainable AI for dispatchers and engineers: systems operate in ‘co-pilot’ mode, highlighting weak signals but not replacing the final human decision.

Coordination in this sector will be carried out through EDIH Kyiv Hitech.

Institutional dimension: new mechanics of participation

A separate outcome of recent meetings, sessions, and training sessions at the Ukrainian Cluster Alliance (UCA) is the realisation that the APPAU cannot develop according to the ‘service agency’ model. We need to return to the modes and approaches of 2017-20, when member interaction and grassroots initiatives were dominant in the community. Upgrading this model is already standard practice for UCA clusters – this means that participants in key initiatives and projects are involved as partners – or ‘co-owners’ of the results of these actions. The same applies to the key network partners of the APPAU.

Accordingly, the focus of interaction in 2026 will shift towards clear rules for co-investment (time/expertise/resources), the formation of ‘rapid response teams’, high-quality matchmaking in inter-cluster cooperation, and the optimisation of actions and schedules in specific initiatives.

The APPAU has already announced its first event on 17 March, which will be held under new rules, where seven of the best integrators and developers with experience in this field and innovative solutions have been selected to meet with leading customers in the agri-food industry. These are IT-Enterprise, Viravix, aGnostics, Techinservice Group, Inteproekt, and the National University of Food Technologies (NUFT).

Points of contact with the IDEALIST project

The session served as an example of the adapted application of the IDEALIST Horizon Scanning methodology. Essentially, we moved from signals and drivers → to scenarios, from scenarios → to options for action, from options → to specific initiatives, and at the same time transformed them into applied tracks: Energy Resilience → Defence → Operational Capacity → EU integration.

Thus, the UA Automation Resilience Stack is a local response to European drivers of strategic autonomy and industrial resilience.

As a next step, the APPAU will invite its IDEALIST project partners to a joint online meeting, where leading APPAU integrators and developers will be able to meet with clusters from seven EU countries.

Key conclusions

The session took into account the military-political framework, which includes both a pessimistic scenario (a decade-long war, with the economy becoming increasingly centralised and the defence industry driving all sectors) and a relatively optimistic scenario (the end of the war in 2026-27 and large-scale reconstruction).

UA Resilience Stack is relevant in both scenarios.

In 2026, the winners will be those community members who work at the intersection of the Energy × Cyber × Defence × Supply Chain × Compliance sectors and are able to quickly cooperate in specific consortia and projects.

Accordingly, UA Automation Resilience Stack is also our attempt to turn Ukraine’s experience of war and instability into a competitive advantage, including for our EU partners.