The Ministry of Defence invited his Royal Highness King Willem-Alexander and Minister Bijleveld for a visit to Field Lab Smart-Base in Soesterberg so they could see and experience for themselves the potential of new innovations for missions, the power of partnerships and the motivation of the team to realise concrete results. As a partner of the Ministry of Defence DCHI was invited to present their views on the successes of the partnership.

The guests were first given a tour around the different initiatives some of which were start-ups and others established businesses showing the innovations around smart use of water, energy saving and shelter solutions. Following driving a electric quad, flying a drone and washing hands in an energy-saving system, the party of guests were shown to a dome where the DCHI presentation was held. DCHI shared their mission, the success of the partnership with the Field Lab Smart Base and the Ministry of Defence and shared the long term vision where it should be possible to enable the best-able organisations to assist and provide humanitarian aid rather than leaving this up to humanitarian organisations alone.
Access To Modern Energy Programme
Access to Modern Energy is increasingly recognized as an area of humanitarian concern. If communities affected by crises go without proper access to energy, it becomes impossible for them to meet the basic needs of life. The programme enables humanitarian organisations to be the catalysts for tackling specific energy challenges, whilst opening themselves up to receiving the knowledge and business insights from energy experts and private-sector partnerships. Ultimately, the projects will provide local insights for humanitarian partnerships to enable cost efficiency and improve quality of humanitarian work.