The geopolitical environment is shift continues to move fast. As power politics have returned, the future is increasingly difficult to navigate. In this context, security can no longer be perceived as a separate domain that is activated only should circumstances deteriorate.
Resilient security is best when built into everyday systems, decisions and collaborations. This was one of the central insights from Defence 26, an invitation-only seminar hosted by Gofore in March for leaders and experts from the defence, security, and industrial sectors.
The event discussions made one thing clear: our security environment has changed fundamentally – and most likely, permanently. What is now required is not short-term alertness, but sustained resilience and a higher tolerance for uncertainty across society.
Digital dual-use: From a niche concept to strategic capability
Alongside growing risks, new opportunities are emerging. One of the most significant is the expansion of the traditional concept of dual-use into the digital domain.
Digital dual-use means that digital technologies, services and systems originally designed for civilian use can also support security, security of supply and defence when circumstances change. This is not about repurposing technology at the last minute. It is about recognising, already in peacetime, which digital capabilities may become critical in exceptional situations. However, the ability to use technologies in a dual-use purpose requires thoughtful architectural and structural decisions done ahead.
When digital systems, data, artificial intelligence and partnerships are designed proactively and collaboratively, they generate competitiveness, innovation and security creating a strategic advantage.
Finland is particularly well positioned to succeed here. We combine high levels of expertise with a strong culture of collaboration and an ability to engage in open, trust-based dialogue. Seen from this perspective, digital dual-use is not a threat scenario. It is an opportunity to build a more resilient, functional and trustworthy society.
Everyday digital services can become critical infrastructure
Digital dual-use is often illustrated through crisis scenarios. While useful, this can be misleading. Crises do not create dual-use. They merely reveal it.
Digital dual-use emerges much earlier, as part of normal civilian society and everyday business operations. A crisis simply exposes which digital solutions are truly essential – and how dependent society has become on them.
A crisis will expose which digital solutions are truly essential – and how dependent society has become on them.
Consider digital payment systems and the strong authentication services connected to them. In everyday life, they enable smooth transactions, salary payments, benefits, invoicing and public services. They are typically viewed through the lens of efficiency and user experience.
In a crisis, however, the same infrastructure can become a strategic societal capability. Ensuring its secure, reliable and scalable use is not something that can be improvised once a disruption is already underway. It must be identified, planned, governed and tested well in advance.
Recognising one’s own organisation as part of critical digital infrastructure – and understanding its potential dual-use role – is therefore a strategic leadership issue. It requires foresight, scenario-based thinking and long-term commitment.
Why collaboration models must evolve
Digital reality does not respect traditional sector boundaries. While we may be used to dividing society into public and private sectors, or civilian and defence domains, digital phenomena cut across all of them.
As a result, solutions can no longer be built according to organisational charts. They must be developed along value chains that span multiple actors, capabilities and responsibilities.
This has direct implications for how digital solutions for defence and security are created. The traditional model – where one actor defines requirements and others deliver – is no longer sufficient. What is needed instead are co-creation models, where solutions are designed and built together from the outset.
This shift also opens the door to smaller players. Not every contributor needs to be a large, well-capitalised systems integrator. Start-ups and SMEs can play a crucial role as specialised partners, subcontractors or niche experts within larger ecosystems.
Ultimately success is determined, not by size, but the ability to collaborate: honest dialogue, mutual trust, and long-term partnerships.
From awareness to action
Digital dual-use is already part of our everyday reality. The question is not whether it exists, but whether we choose to recognise it – and act on it – before circumstances force us to.
Building resilience in today’s security environment is a long-distance discipline. It requires moving beyond reactive thinking and embedding security, preparedness and collaboration into the digital foundations of society.
That work starts now, in everyday decisions.
