As Benoît Chatelain, head of defense and security, Sopra Steria, explains: “The challenge is not merely technological. It is systemic. Slow development cycles, fragmented governance, and a disconnect between innovators and operational users threaten to undermine Europe’s capacity for technological sovereignty. While Europe must face rising geopolitical instability and an unprecedented digital arms race, this is a critical moment to align innovation, sovereignty and operational readiness. It is not only about investing more, but about investing faster and smarter — together — boosting interoperable capabilities across mMember states. Europe’s defense transformation is not starting from scratch — but it is unfolding in a world where time has become the decisive factor of power.”
The challenge is not merely technological. It is systemic.”
The European Commission’s Defence Transformation Roadmap offers a timely framework to take that next step — moving from coordination to integration, from pilots to platforms and from scattered projects to a truly coherent digital defense ecosystem.
Sopra Steria’s contribution to this roadmap focuses precisely on how to turn that ambition into practice. It proposes four strategic levers to help Europe strengthen its digital sovereignty, accelerate innovation and achieve operational coherence across member states.
1. Fast-track governance for defense innovation
Europe’s defense innovation ecosystem remains largely structured around long, rigid programs such as the European Defence Fund (EDF). While successful in funding research, the EDF’s multi-year cycles are ill-suited to digital technologies, where obsolescence can occur in months.
Sopra Steria proposes a fast-track innovation mechanism — a permanent open call within the EDF to deliver innovation at the speed of relevance.