BRITISH ARMY
“ THEIA in particular is demonstrating that we don ' t necessarily partner just with our big traditional defence prime contractors . We need to also partner with Silicon Valley-type tech companies to get the best of breed of all of the technologies available ”
JONATHAN COLE MAJ GEN , BRITISH ARMY
Putting people first Of course , cyber threats have to be anticipated on a daily basis , even when operating on a day-to-day level “ below the threshold of warfare ”. Maj Gen Cole says that in many ways COVID-19 and the remote ways of working have been a good opportunity to shift the Army ’ s culture – and something that should be embraced . However , remote working does have some downsides .
“ There is inevitably a security risk that we need to address through the use of increased commercial technologies ,” says Maj Gen Cole . “ We also have to look at what that does for behavioural activities .
“ The Army is used to working in close proximity to other people . So we have to find a way to get the best out of all the technology , but at the same time , recognise the fundamental human nature of an army .
“ For an army where you might ask teams of people to go into war together , where they ' re putting their lives on the line , where they ' re fighting for each other ' s lives , it is very important for them to be able to operate and function as a team . And that is ultimately a very human endeavor . As much as technology enables people to work remotely , to be able to explore the power of data , we must never forget the human nature of warfare .”
The human element is often something that comes secondary when considering any digital transformation , but even the most sophisticated systems and deepest data would be rendered near useless without the skilled people that make up the British Army . With transformation comes the need to retrain and upskill , as well as seek out private sector innovators to partner with .
“ I think THEIA , in particular , is demonstrating that we don ' t necessarily partner just with our big traditional defence prime contractors . We need to also partner with Silicon Valley-type tech companies to get the best of breed of all of the technologies available ,” says Maj Gen Cole .
“ And the trick for us really is to be able to work with an ecosystem of technology providers across those sorts of communities and being able to work with them in a collegiate way .
“ I couldn ' t imagine a more exciting time to be the Army ' s CIO and Director of Information – every day for me is different . I learn something new every day , and I know that I have the support of the Chief of the General Staff as he wants to deliver an asymmetric army for the digital age .”
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