Living in the Digital Age, a period that brought an economy primarily based upon information technology, the usage of computing technology within our society has led to modernized information and communication processes becoming the driving force of social evolution.

As such, alike Marshall McLuhan’s prediction when he used the term “global village”, information society refers to a society characterized by a high level of information intensity in everyday life, but also organizations and workplaces, in which creation, distribution, and manipulation of information is the most significant cultural and economic activity. There is a high level of usage of common and compatible technology for personal, social, educational, and economic activities with an increasing speed of sharing, receiving and exchanging data.

Such fast progress in information technologies and communication is affecting our society by intruding upon our workspaces, education of the new generation, study and research and entertainment. To add up, not only does this change our interactions and the way we communicate, but this also forces the traditional methods and organizational structures to adapt.

The European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), which is the science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to EU policy, analyzes the key challenges linked to the Digital Single Market so that Europe’s citizens and businesses take advantage of these technologies and make the wider economy grow, by helping in the creation of jobs.

While the rise of digital technology enables the military to communicate better, provides instant access to a large amount of information, and improves the overall performance this might also, for example, lead to destroying the reputation of a person or of an institution.

As such, in the Information Age, an organization has to make sure in regards to their online image. The ability to disseminate information quickly is a wonderful tool, but it can also lead to great hazards. In the military, where it is important to maintain a certain reputation and view, concepts like social media must be used with professionalism.

However, the usage of such technology brings the possibility of future warfare, utterly different from what the world has experienced so far. As all the other domains previously mentioned, the national security space is disrupted by digital innovation as well through aspects like a cyber intrusion, cyber-attacks, and manipulating information networks. Cyberspace is increasingly viewed as the domain where future conflicts will take place.

This is how concepts like hybrid warfare arose, a military strategy that blends conventional warfare, irregular warfare, and cyber warfare. Hybrid warfare involves, among others, a hybrid adversary that uses advanced weapons systems and other disruptive technologies as well as mass communication for propaganda, which is nowadays made possible considering the growth of mass communication networks. Nonetheless, there is also a belief that at some point our society will face digital warfare.

As the world is changing, our perception of warfare is changing accordingly. Our international magazine has thoroughly researched up-to-date articles that put new technologies and methods of communication into the light, reviewed by a highly skilled team of multi-disciplinary experts and intensely analyzing the future of military and global security in this digital age.