Simona R. Soare
NATO and the EU have embarked on a process of digital transformation of defence. In 2022 and 2023, NATO adopted its first-ever Digital Transformation vision and a Digital Transformation Implementation Strategy, while the EU endorsed a Strategic Implementation Plan for the Digitalisation of EU Forces, integrated cyber effects in EU military operations and prioritised digital capabilities under the fourth pillar (investment) of its Strategic Compass document. Subject to sectoral strategies, different elements of digital transformation – including data, cloud and the Internet of Things – are increasingly connected, contributing to the digitalisation of defence as an enabler of multi-domain operations and defence innovation through the application of emerging and disruptive technologies.
Digital transformation entails a profound socio-technological and organisational change – beyond digitisation, which is merely translating analogue data into ones and zeros. This paper outlines the principal tenets of digital-transformation initiatives in NATO and the EU, provides a brief overview of the level of digitalisation of defence in selected European countries, and analyses the key challenges of the digital transformation of defence capabilities in Europe.
The digital-transformation initiatives in NATO and the EU are having a positive impact as European governments pursue a path of incremental optimisation of digital capabilities up to the 2030s. European security will benefit from the exchange of best practices around digital transformation, the establishment of common technical standards and data-sharing policies, and the coordination of digital capability requirements and goals in defence planning.
The scope of digital transformation is ambitious in both NATO and the EU. It includes technological, organisational-procedural and people pillars of transformation and prioritises data, cloud and an updated approach to cyber security. However, implementation is hampered by the long time frames for digital transformation (into the 2030s), the lack of progress in crucial procedural components (not least procurement and budgetary alignment), challenges around data sovereignty and accessibility, and persistent underinvestment in digital capabilities for defence across Europe. Unless major change occurs across all these domains in the short term, both NATO and the EU are unlikely to achieve their digital-transformation milestones by 2030.
No comments:
Post a Comment