At a time when France is presenting a Military Programming Law that is unprecedented in recent years, and in a context where the risk of high-intensity warfare is very high, France must adopt a more proactive innovation policy. uncomplicated.
This article was published in Les Echos on July 13, 2023, following the publication of the Institut Montaigne report Defense innovation: instruments to be strengthened.
ENSURING VITAL COMPLEMENTARITY BETWEEN INNOVATION MODES
In a context where the risk of high-intensity warfare is re-emerging, global military spending is rising steadily, topping the $2,000 billion mark by 2022. If France is to stay in the technological race with the major powers, we need a more proactive public policy on innovation. Initial progress has been made, with the creation of the Defense Innovation Agency in 2018 and the various support mechanisms that depend on it, but a step forward needs to be taken in favor of greater efficiency in the mechanisms in place, particularly in the ability to bring together all the stakeholders in a complex ecosystem: Armies, DGA, startups, SMEs/ETIs, major manufacturers, investment funds, research players....
While the French model of defense innovation has historically been based on public planning, innovation from the private sector is now gaining the upper hand. In addition to capturing this private innovation - whether or not it comes from the DTIB - the critical challenge for the French government is to successfully integrate it into military use cases, and in particular major weapons programs. This means taking into account the need for smaller structures to develop sustainable business models and gain access to public contracts, without pitting them against the major groups, which have the resources to develop long-term programs.
Existing administrative instruments for supporting and developing innovative defense technologies must be strengthened, end-beneficiaries brought closer to those who innovate, and iterative testing and learning capabilities developed in a context of controlled risk-taking, to ensure vital complementarity between planned and open innovation.
ACCELERATING OUR AUTONOMY
However, the new paradigm of innovation, driven by the civilian world, does not allow us to dispense with a wide-ranging, long-term forward-looking exercise, designed to establish a roadmap of priority fields of action or research, give all players visibility on the priority themes to be investigated, and equip ourselves with an ambitious HR policy anticipating medium/long-term skills needs in a context of major tension on the job market. In this respect, immediate operational levers can already be activated, such as the creation of an Innovation Reserve, or the launch of an in-depth reflection on cross-cutting career paths that will enable people to move back and forth between the civilian world and the public sector.
This forward-looking exercise must also be accompanied by iterative evaluation mechanisms, enabling us to draw the right lessons and readjust the allocation of resources if necessary.
It is by establishing long-term priorities, which are then translated into precise orientations and action plans, while retaining room for maneuver to adapt, that we will be able to control, in a sovereign manner, the spread of innovation within our armed forces. This requires greater clarity in the tools used to support defense innovation, which must act not as brakes, but as gas pedals of our autonomy.
Opinion column published in Les Echos July 13, 2023,
Signatories :
- Marwan LahoudManaging Director of Tikehau Capital and Chairman of Private Equity
- Julie BurguburuGeneral Secretary of the TF1 Group, member of ADER and Cercle Fontenoy
- Emiland d'AlincourtPartner, in charge of Eurogroup Consulting's aerospace and defense sector
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