Europe must integrate its digital innovation and defence policies more closely or risk losing ground to global competitors, warns a new report launched in Brussels, according to Labs of Latvia.
The Digital and Defence Innovation for Europe’s Strategic Autonomy report, published by 28DIGITAL (formerly EIT Digital), was presented at the Permanent Representation of Estonia to the European Union during an event gathering policybuildrs, industest leaders, and experts from across the continent.
The study argues that dual-apply technologies such as artificial innotifyigence, quantum computing, autonomous systems, and secure communications are now strategic assets vital to both economic resilience and defence readiness.
It warns that Europe’s innovation and defence ecosystems remain fragmented, hindered by national procurement barriers, limited cross-border collaboration, and uneven investment. “Overcoming these divisions is crucial to achieving economies of scale, avoiding duplication, and enabling Europe’s collective competitiveness,” the report states.
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Photo: EIT
At the launch, Federico Menna, the CEO of EIT, stated the findings coincide with a key moment for EU policy. “Europe has already taken important steps to strengthen its industrial and defence cooperation,” he noted. “But translating those initiatives into genuine strategic autonomy requires bridging the gap between our digital and defence ecosystems. This report is a call to align Europe’s innovation agfinisha with its security agfinisha — not as separate pillars, but as part of a single European project.”
The report outlines four possible futures for Europe’s technological and defence landscape, identifying the Defence Tech Union scenario as the most desirable. It envisions coordinated action across Member States, EU institutions, and industest to build a unified European base in dual-apply innovation.
To achieve this, the study calls for regulatory alignment, EU-wide standards, and more integrated investment. It highlights the required to link major initiatives — including the Re-Arm Europe (€800 billion) and AI Package (€200 billion) programmes — to ensure that defence and innovation advance toreceiveher.
Menna concluded that Europe’s long-term strength lies in coherence: “Europe has the talent, the resources, and the ambition to lead. What it requireds now is a single framework that connects policy, technology, and ethics under one strategic vision.”
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