The European defence industry has important particularities due to the level of security classification/sensitivity of the data exchanged. The industry’s working environment is becoming increasingly distributed as the industry adopts new ways of working: all actors in the European defence industry are undergoing a process of digital transformation in which engineering, project management, manufacturing and support processes are increasingly addressed through collaborative digital tools.

These tools range from general-purpose (messaging, wikis, file sharing, document co-editing, videoconferencing, chat) to more specialised ones (computer-assisted design, product lifecycle management, data analysis), and all of them require a common secure network. Most of these solutions will no longer be available on companies’ premises as the software editors move to cloud-based solutions. And while European industry has the skills to develop its technological independence in terms of cloud, data and edge, there is no suitable European tool available for general-purpose collaborative needs.

While this digital transformation is proceeding quickly within each company or government agency, trouble usually emerges when several different companies or entities need to collaborate on the same project or when one entity needs to collaborate on different programmes.

Two factors impede cloud-based collaboration:

1. The first source of difficulty is the need to establish a secure network interconnection. This is usually difficult and time-consuming due to security regulations that are specific to each programme, or each Member State involved in the programme. Having the same security classification level does not imply having the same security requirements. While EU classification exists, each Member State applies its own security requirements regarding the protection and handling of classified information. Other steps to meet security requirements at infrastructure level (primarily related to IP protection and sovereignty issues) require convergence with the active participation of MoDs in Europe. Today, a cloud offering answering the disparate requirements of different defence programmes does not exist.
2. The second source of difficulty stems from a lack of compatibility between the tools used for a given task in different organisations. Even when they are compatible in theory, differences in data models or standard workflows may result in ineffective interoperability.

Typically, the result is to continue along the path of data exchange instead of creating a real European collaborative environment.

Considering:

1. The stringent security requirements related to the protection and handling of information developed in the frame of defence industry activities,
2. The need for interoperability to include an increasing number of actors in defence programmes (MoDs, industrial partners, technology providers),
3. The lack of a single EU set of rules and accreditation process for cloud technologies and solutions, as well as the absence of an agreed joint approach toward cloud technologies and standards,
4. The fact that currently available cloud and edge solutions are not meeting the security, interoperability, reversibility, sovereignty and sustainability requirements to support a defence programme over its entire lifecycle (around 70 years).
5. Despite Europe’s role as a major information technology provider, current digital solutions are at the moment not suited to support the long-term competitiveness of the European defence technological and industrial base (EDTIB),
6. The required data distribution, data flow, data federation and data interoperability between vendor solutions used for co-conception across different European countries,
7. Different European legislative acts and proposals (GPDR, Data Act, AI act) as well as industrial initiatives like Gaia-X that do not provide short-term perspectives to address the needs for collaboration in the context of European defence programmes,
8. The impossibility to apply modern engineering methodology like agile engineering without a shared IT infrastructure, it is time to foster the development of an “EU Restricted Cloud” in terms of common requirements/rules/regulations, accreditation, and solutions that are validated by all organisations.