A new era for defence

PA Consulting’s digital trust and cyber security expert, Cate Pye, chaired a recent round-table event, discussing the role of digitisation in realising the Integrated Operating Concept 2025.

In May, the New Statesman gathered a panel of military experts, defence industry senior leaders, and tech industry insiders to discuss the role of digitisation in strategies for national defence. The online round-table event represented a unique opportunity to explore the implications of the new fields of cyber and space, now rising in prominence alongside the traditional domains of defence: land, sea and air.

The evolving character of warfare, set out in the government’s Integrated Operating Concept 2025 (IOpC), is defined by these emerging fields. The government’s recent Integrated Review signalled that defence strategy would pivot towards cyber, a field in which data, information and innovation are key drivers of modernisation.

Introducing the discussion, Cate summarised some of the main positions set out in the IOpC review, which, according to the government, “will lead to a fundamental transformation in the military instrument and the way it is used”.

“Traditional war fighting has always focused on the physical domain,” said Cate. “We now have the virtual domain… and the discussion today is about what the role of digitisation is in that.”

Read the full article in New Statesman