Accelerating cybersecurity for a safe and resilient future

Due to rising citizen digital expectations, technology and digital acceleration have the highest impact on defense and intelligence organizations. Changing social demographics, including aging populations and talent shortages, is also cited as having a significant impact. Findings reflect the critical linkage between digital technologies and talent to advance cybersecurity and modernization initiatives.

Cybersecurity remains a consistent top industry trend. In fact, protecting through cybersecurity has ranked as the top business and IT priorities for the past two years. In the midst of ever-increasing threats, defense and intelligence executives also align on the top two IT priorities: IT modernization and data center consolidation and data analytics and business intelligence.

View key findings from our conversations with defense and intelligence executives in 2022 below, or download the report.

For more insights on macro trends, including social demographics, climate change, deglobalization, technology acceleration and supply chain reconfiguration, read our summary.

Top trends and priorities

Top macro trends
  1. Technology and digital acceleration, notably rising customer and citizen digital expectations

  2. Changing social demographics, including aging populations and talent shortages

  3. Reconfiguration of supply chains to reduce risks and increase resiliency

Top industry trends
  1. Protecting through cybersecurity

  2. IT modernization and cloud solutions

  3. Decreasing or flat budgets and spend

Top business priorities
  1. Protecting military organizations and operations (cybersecurity)

  2. Driving military operations

  3. Becoming digital organizations to meet citizen expectations

Top IT priorities
  1. Protecting through cybersecurity

  2. IT modernization, data center consolidation, cloud

  3. Data analytics and business intelligence

60%
have a cybersecurity strategy in place for the entire enterprise
81%
say legacy systems are somewhat or very challenging to implementing their digital strategy
77%
of executives rate the agility of their organization’s business model at medium or low

Cybersecurity progress in Defense & Intelligence

Defense and intelligence clients across all regions face the same cyber threats, leading to consistent implementation stages of their cybersecurity strategies, with a majority reporting that their strategies are being implemented or are fully operational.

 

Global

Europe

North America 

Countries within NATO*

Being implemented

43%

43%

46%

44%

Fully operational

28%

28%

31%

30%

* This data is from June 2022, when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) consisted of 30 independent member countries.