Enterprises In Hybrid Operations

Enterprises In Hybrid Operations

The Global University Alliance together with NATO and its member nations are involved in the research and development of: Agile Multi-Domain Socio-Technical Enterprises In Hybrid Operations.


Multiple Domain Operations (MDO) and increasing reliance on robotics and AI challenge.  There is a need to harmonize operations in the physical (e.g. Air, water and land), virtual (e.g cyber) and social domains (e.g. economic). Without harmonisation MDO will fail. Without incorporating non-human partners, NATO will be outmatched by its adversaries.  NATO and its member nations need to arrange to account for non-human partners. To succeed, militaries need to develop multi-domain approaches to hybrid operations and adapt domain operations.  SAS-143 is developing the concepts and tools necessary to achieve harmonization across operations in multiple domains with a variety of human and non-human partners.

Here is what is being researched and developed under Enterprises In Hybrid Operations:

  1. Firstly: NATO and its member nations face hybrid threats that require integrated responses that include military and non-military instruments of power. Therefore, it is essential that kinetic, cyber, and non-kinetic capabilities need to be harmonised in complex and hybrid and agile operations.
  2. Secondly, the automation of a variety of decisions i.e. planning, delegation, communication, judgment and choices, has been a fact of life for some time, albeit without a clear recognition of constraints that may be impediments to effectiveness, efficiency and agility and thus, to mission accomplishment.
  3. Thirdly, the emergence of autonomous systems is a more recent development in artificial intelligence and robotic automation. As is the case with automation, ‘autonomous’ systems involve delegations of decision rights whose impacts and consequences on hybrid and agile operations are currently not well understood.
  4. Fourthly, the likelihood of operating in a cyber-contested environment is high increasing the need for agile operations and the need to understand the impacts upon Approaches.

This research aims to apply previous developed concepts to help both National and NATO organizations adapt to the changing hybrid threats i.e. risk and security aspects, that they are facing by the integration of kinetic, cyber and non-kinetic operations as well as to adapt to the impact of new decision making technologies employed in autonomous systems and operating in a cyber contested and hostile environments.

All of the outputs will be tested in simulations, wargames and exercises.

Research Team

As this is a NATO and its member nations research and development, these can out of security and privacy reasons not be mentioned. The following non-defense members can be mentioned:

Research Leader:
Professor Mark von Rosing
NATO Research & Development Partner
Global University Alliance, Chairman

The Global University Alliance team involved in this work are among others the following academics and industry researchers:

  • Enterprise Capability Ontology (meta objects), Prof. Wim Laurier (academic researcher)
  • Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Automation Semantics (relations and rules), Prof. Simon Polovina (academic researcher)
  • Typical Hybrid and Agile Modelling concepts, Prof. Hans Scheruhn (academic researcher)
  • Capability Modelling, Ulrik Foldager (industry researcher)
  • Most Common Roles Involved, Prof. Maxim Arzumanyan (academic researcher)

As far as partners are involved, these are the collaboration partner contacts that have a direct contract/relationship with NATO and its member nations:

Enterprise Standards Body:
Georg Etzel,
LEADing Practice, Co-CEO