European Defense Sector Struggles with Digital Transformation Gap
Event summary
- BearingPoint study reveals 60–70% of aerospace and defense executives expect high digital transformation impact by 2028, but only 20–30% report advanced digital maturity today.
- Public defense sector prioritizes training/simulation (34%) and deployment readiness (32%), while procurement and supplier visibility lag.
- Top barriers include skills shortages (26%), budget constraints (26%), workforce fatigue (24%), and limited supplier collaboration (22%) in industry; budget rigidity (34%) and data silos (32%) in public sector.
- Investment shifting toward AI decision support, predictive analytics, and digital twins, with growing focus on supply chain orchestration.
The big picture
Europe's defense sector is undergoing transformation driven by geopolitical tensions and strategic autonomy pressures. Digital technologies are critical for efficiency, operational readiness, and supply chain resilience, but execution gaps threaten progress. The shift toward software-defined defense systems demands interoperable platforms and secure data foundations, making coordinated transformation across the ecosystem essential.
What we're watching
- Execution Risk
- Whether defense organizations can close the digital maturity gap amid structural constraints and skills shortages.
- Governance Dynamics
- How fragmented digital architectures and multi-stakeholder governance will impact scaling of digital capabilities.
- Strategic Autonomy
- The pace at which Europe strengthens its defense industrial base through deeper industry-government cooperation.
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