Disruptive technologies and intelligence services: a framework for adoption in the digital age
Stephen Coulthart · Intelligence & National Security · 2025
Digital transformation of intelligence requires advances in information technology. However, the hardest to implement IT – disruptive IT like artificial intelligence and quantum computing – pose significant adoption challenges for intelligence services, including technological illiteracy and system incompatibility. This paper explores these barriers, examines the role of public sector innovation, and introduces a framework emphasizing collaboration and connections to facilitate digital transformation. It analyses the push of technological advancements and the pull of evolving security threats to understand when and how intelligence services will adopt innovative IT. The piece argues literature on public sector innovation identifies critical opportunities for intelligence professionals to strengthen their ability to adapt. Specifically, the two ‘Cs’ – collaboration and connections – serve as a strategic guide for intelligence services to navigate and thrive in an era of digital transformation.