From the idea to the battlefield

Innovation does not become a capability when it works technically - but when it can be operated securely, supported institutionally and made scalable.

At the Berlin Security Conference, we discussed the central question with Major General Mathias Hanson, Sven Weizenegger, Alexander Philipp, Sebastian Dännart, Marc Wietfeld and Marc Akkermann in panel B5, chaired by General Michael Vetter:

Why do so many good innovations fail to make the journey from idea to real-world usability?

The answers were not technological, but institutional. It is not the invention that is the problem, but the introduction.

The five structural barriers

More specifically, there are five structural barriers: First, business models in the defense system reward stability, not disruption. Secondly, innovation often originates with users at the edge of the system - but the organization rarely listens. Thirdly, there is often a lack of a modular, software-defined architecture to which something new can dock. Fourthly, a lack of trust architecture - cybersecurity, traceability, control - prevents widespread use. And fifthly, innovation fails because institutions do not know how to own, operate and scale new capabilities in the long term.

Five solutions emerged from the panel:

• First, innovation needs targeted transition paths from prototype to unit and then to the entire organization.

• Secondly, genuine user integration - not as late testing, but as early design.

• Thirdly,open, modular and hardened architectural principles, such as those already practiced in Sweden.

• Fourthly, cybersecurity as an enabler rather than a gatekeeper, through zero trust, whitelisting and transparent control.

• And fifthly, institutions need to think about adoption, training, operation and governance before the product is technically ready.

Trust as a scaling factor

This is precisely where DriveLock's perspective comes in: Innovation can only be scaled if it can be operated in a trustworthy manner - on any device, in any location, regardless of connection, network or origin. Hardening, transparency and control are not obstacles to innovation - they create the space in which innovation can be responsibly tested, further developed and ultimately deployed.

Innovation does not become a capability when it works technically - but when it can be operated safely, supported institutionally and made scalable.

A detailed white paper on this topic is currently being prepared – anyone who would like to contribute their thoughts, comments or input is welcome to do so.