Analysing the UK’s “generational response” to National Security

Guest blog by Victoria Knight, Strategy and Operations Director for National Security and Government at BAE Systems Digital Intelligence and part of techUK's National Security Committee

From heightened geopolitical tensions to an increasingly complex and contested global landscape, those responsible for ensuring the UK’s national security are facing some significant challenges. State and non-state actors alike present a continuous threat to international peace, stability and security, with technological advancements putting potentially devastating capabilities into the hands of a wider range of threat actors.

It’s against this dynamic and tumultuous backdrop that the UK government is developing a new National Security Strategy – complementing other activities such as the recently released Strategic Defence Review – to outline its assessment of the UK’s role in the world, identify current and future threats to the UK’s national security, and explain how it intends to keep the UK safe.

When Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced plans to publish a new strategy back in February, he delivered a welcome signal that National Security isn’t just about threat and risk, but growth. While at its core a defensive necessity, National Security also has the potential to be a growth engine for the UK through various avenues such as international trade, exporting sovereign capabilities and developing high-value jobs and skills.

So, ahead of the release of the new National Security Strategy, here’s our perspective of the strategic challenges and opportunities for the UK:

Whole-of-society response: Everyone has a part to play. In the words of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer: “Our whole approach to national security must now change. We will have to ask British industry, British universities, British businesses and the British people to play a bigger part.” We firmly stand behind this notion and it’s encouraging to hear that the strategy will pull together various other reviews that are relevant to National Security.

International action: In order to drive security at home, we must be prepared to look outwards. More so than ever before, National Security is a shared challenge that requires shared solutions – highlighting a need to engage and build deeper relationships and alliances with our international partners.

Return on investment: With a commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, we must ensure this investment is fed back into UK industry through the development of skills, jobs and innovation. This will help enhance UK national security capabilities and expertise while supporting economic growth – a key mission for this government.

Building trust in technology: Capitalising on new technologies will be critical to enabling growth and security, but it can’t be done at the expense of trust. For example, any strategies to leverage a pro innovation approach to AI, must have security accountability and governance at their core. Nowhere is this more critical than in national security.

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, With the world continuing to evolve at such pace, new challenges and opportunities like will emerge. But what we can be sure of is that the time for a “generational response” to National Security is indeed now.

National Security Programme activities

techUK’s National Security programme leads the debate on emerging technologies which present opportunities to strengthen UK national security. Through a variety of market engagement and policy activities we assess the capability of these technologies against various national security threats. Visit the programme page here