Research
As Europe navigates a rapidly evolving threat landscape, NATO’s digital capabilities are increasingly being tested. A new paper by HCSS Strategic Analysts Hans Horan, Sofia Romansky and Davis Ellison offers a comprehensive blueprint for building a NATO fit for the digital battlefield, focusing on the urgent need to modernise Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) across NATO Europe.
This Capstone paper synthesises key insights from four expert guest papers commissioned for this project. The series includes Antonio Calcara’s “NATO’s Digital Modernisation: The Case of Cloud Computing”, Kateryna Bondar’s “How Ukraine’s War is Reshaping C4ISR for the Modern Battlefield”, Andrea and Mauro Gilli’s “Appraising the State of Play of C4ISR Infrastructure within NATO: Gaps, Deficiencies and Steps Forward”, and Elsa Kania’s paper “Command Confrontation: Considering China’s Evolving Command Capabilities and Implications for NATO.”
Together, these papers offer a multifaceted perspective on the challenges NATO faces in adapting to a digital battlespace and provides the foundation for the capstone to both diagnose NATO’s current shortcomings and propose actionable solutions. While it builds on the research and insights of the expert contributions, this Capstone paper is designed to serve as a stand-alone strategic framework for strengthening NATO’s digital capabilities.
Drawing from recent conflicts, technological advancements, and successful NATO pilot programs, the paper outlines four core pillars for transformation:
- Technological Modernisation: Invest in a resilient digital backbone through cloud-based, interoperable systems, AI integration, and modular architectures to rapidly onboard innovation.
- Institutional Reform: Accelerate public-private partnerships by overhauling procurement processes and embedding agile, civilian-tech-inspired approaches into NATO workflows.
- Cultural Shifts: Treat digital transformation as a strategic imperative, not a bureaucratic process, emphasising data literacy, joint standards, and mission-command principles.
- Strategic Integration: Ensure digital interoperability is embedded into all national projects, underpinned by shared governance frameworks and continuous stress-testing.
The paper calls for NATO to move beyond fragmented national efforts and embrace collective capability development. It also urges stronger collaboration with commercial innovators to close the gap between battlefield needs and cutting-edge technology.
“Interoperability must be treated as a strategic imperative, not an afterthought.”
Authors: Hans Horan, Sofia Romansky and Davis Ellison
Contributions by: Emma Genovesi
Series Editor: Tim Sweijs
This HCSS paper is part of a series related to the “NATO’s digital capabilities” project, established in the run up to the 2025 NATO summit in The Hague. The research was made possible through a financial contribution from Microsoft to The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS). Responsibility for the contents and for the opinions expressed, rests solely with the authors.
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