Call for abstracts: Inaugural Data Driven Defense Workshop

We are living in the age of data. Big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence are disrupting and rapidly transforming businesses and society. This also affects military organizations and the conduct of war. New methods for collecting, analyzing, synthesizing and utilizing data and information are introduced, followed by new applications in intelligence, targeting, automated weapon systems, logistics, etc. Ambitions for a more data driven defense are expressed through, e.g., the long-term plan 2025-2036 for the Norwegian defense sector and the newly established AI center of the Norwegian Armed Forces, and the ongoing debate on digital sovereignty.

The academic and scientific study of data driven military operations and conduct of war are, by the nature of the rapid technological development, in its infancy. While theories of information warfare and network centric warfare emerged in the 1990s, they could not foresee the current acceleration in connectivity, computational power, consumer electronics, social media, data streams, machine learning and artificial intelligence. The goal of the workshop is to address opportunities and challenges of data driven defense, including both the applications of data-centric technologies and their technological, military and political implications. To this end we seek contributions that treat the growth in data and application of data-centric technologies as driving forces in the current development of military affairs.

We invite submission of abstracts which address the broad field of data driven defense. We encourage both theoretical, empirical and practice-oriented contributions, as well as contributions from both the social sciences and STEM disciplines. Cross-disciplinary research is encouraged.

Relevant topics include, but are not restricted to:

• Adoption of big data and AI in intelligence, targeting, situational awareness, decision making, surveillance, etc., including their implications
• Use of data in autonomous weapon systems
• Application of AI and other data-centric technologies in the land, sea, air, cyber and space domains
• AI and military leadership
• Legal and ethical implications of military adoption of AI
• National autonomy and dependence on the tech industry
• Data driven defense through civilian-led innovation and dual-use technology
• Weaponization of societal functions to underscore military objectives
• Total defense applications of data and information

Contributors will be invited to participate in a one-day workshop to present and discuss their contributions. After the workshop, the program committee will organize and edit a special issue of a suitable journal (TBD), to which the contributors to the workshop will be invited to submit full papers.

Venue: Scandic St. Olavs plass, Oslo

Dates:

• Deadline abstract: September 1, 2026
• Workshop: September 17, 2026
• Deadline (tentative) full papers: January 10, 2027

Abstracts sent to: maslund@mil.no

The Data Driven Defense Workshop program committee consists of Professor Mass Soldal Lund, PhD scholar Vivi Ringnes Berrrefjord and PhD scholar Johanne Jensen Skeie from the Norwegian Defense University College, with more to be announced.