Līga Raita Rozentāle
Senior Director
European
Government Affairs for Microsoft
Belgium
Ligarr@gmail.com
In the current and future geopolitical context, the Baltic Sea states face significant decisions on the use of technology that will impact both their security and economies for the coming decades. The economy and security of the region are now more closely tied than ever as the environment has significantly shifted with the application of Sweden and Finland to NATO, plus the suspension of Russia from regional formats such as the Council of Baltic Sea States due to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. With strategic decisions regulating the use of technology and digital transformation being made in the EU and NATO, what issues should the region address to maintain and advance the highest level of technological advancements to benefit both the economy and security?
Digital transformation decisions do not have boundaries between civilian and military decision making as the modernization of critical infrastructures lies at the intersection of both sectors. Physical and cyber threats to transport, banking, media, education and other essential services and entities require a common civilian and military approach on prioritising basic national principles on digital adoption to reap benefits across all relevant sectors. Until now, digital regulatory issues have grown in complexity and have been addressed separately from national security, leaving national security concerns separate from what have been seen as economy and privacy decisions on the issue that underpins a digital transformation- the use of data.
The use of data and data sharing is a political commitment on a national level with international repercussions. Nations must urgently learn to take advantage of their own data and regionally adopt an approach to sharing within critical sectors. The benefit of a digital transformation is centred on data; he more the better. Without enough shared data, the complexity of the rapidly advancing security and economic environment cannot be addressed. The Baltic Sea region is a tightly knit economic and now security zone- a unified approach on data use is necessary as the individual nations of the region do not have the scale of resources when compared to other, much larger European nations such as France or Germany, who are contemplating national focused decisions on data.
The use of data is a heavily politicised question that must be immediately addressed. In parallel, three key areas across the civilian and defence sectors should be prioritised in the context of both military and economic governmental decision making on digital transformation for the future:
First and foremost, governments must prioritise an agile digital transformation. This is by far the highest priority as technology changes quickly. Adversaries and competitors embrace new technology as quickly as possible, thus Baltic Sea nations must do the same. In facing the design, development and delivery of various instruments of government, this path must be prioritised as digital by design and transformative by practice.
Secondly, the Baltic Sea region needs to lead on speed for technological change. During the COVID pandemic, the private sector multiplied exponentially its speed of cloud adoption. Governments did not. The private sector’s survivability and economic success or failure was determined by its ability to adapt quickly to new digital tools and services. While governments have their own nuances, adversaries have taken advantage of the massive increase in data and digital surface area generated by remote workers and tech use to infiltrate NATO Allies and their governments. This region needs to speed up its procurement and adoption of technologies to be proactive vs reactive in its defence and economic competitiveness.
Lastly, with a common security and economic environment, forge closer ties need to be established between civilian and military sector on digital transformation issues. Legal and regulatory challenges stemming from privacy concerns and economic development within and outside of the region strongly tests the collective strength of the EU, NATO and the region. The military needs better visibility of the European regulatory environment, transatlantic data transfer and ownership challenges, European digital sovereignty, and the impact on national and Alliance security. By combining sectors across civilian and defence sectors, the region can be better informed and prepared to provide the required complex digital solutions for the future.
By prioritising these three strategic areas and evaluating how they can be applied to all areas of development and implementation of a shared approach to digital transformation in the civilian and military sectors across the Baltic Sea nations, the region will reach a higher level of economic prosperity and security in a rapidly changing and complex environment.