The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has no complete plan for the implementation of the Digital Strategy for Defence, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
In addition, there is no way of measuring whether strategy is on track, the auditor has said in its newly published review of the initiative.
The Digital Strategy for Defence was announced in 2021 by the MoD with the aim of modernising the technology, processes, people and cybersecurity of the armed forces in the UK. This modernisation would lead to increased sharing and usage of data so that the armed forces could use “disruptive technology” and respond to new security threats.
The implementation review has identified key challenges the MoD is facing, inevitably including legacy technology. Digitising defence is estimated to involve an investment of £11.7 billion over 10 years to update and replace legacy systems, and the NAO says this modernisation would be complex.
In its findings, the NAO says there was good recognition of the importance of data as a strategic asset, but the MoD suffers from data that is hard to access and share and that there are critical skills gaps as a result of outdated technologies and processes.
Access to skills has been identified as another key challenge.
Historical shortcomings
“Defence Digital’s project delivery has historically suffered from a lack of skilled and experienced personnel, insufficient reporting and assurance, and a culture focused on approvals rather than outcomes,” the NAO said in a statement.
As a result, the MoD is struggling to recruit and retain talent due to its inability to match private sector pay scales. But the NAO also finds: “Technologists see the MoD as bureaucratic and the hiring process – including getting security clearance – as too lengthy. The shortfall of technical skills is affecting the delivery of both individual programmes and the strategy.”
Trust in the delivery of strategy has been undermined, the NAO said, although it did find evidence that this is recovering. “The MoD needs a clear plan for prioritising resources to where they are needed most urgently if it is to deliver its ambitions for digital transformation,” said Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO.
The NAO recognises the scale of the challenge. There are three security classifications, which often operate on separate digital systems, the need to work in hostile environments where connectivity is poor to non-existent and a need to share data with international partners, means digitisation has an increased level of complexity.
Need for comprehensive plan
The central weakness identified in the implementation is the lack of a single comprehensive plan for digitisation, with a need to bring together individual work streams and plans.
“To provide a complete picture of progress," the NAO says. "A comprehensive plan would also allow the MoD to prioritise its activity effectively when challenges emerge.”
The review urges the MoD to create a clear delivery plan that identifies how the digital strategy integrates with wider objectives, prioritise activities needed to achieve the strategy, identify the people, skills and funding required and set clear performance indicators.
