Part 6 – Implications for DefenceKey deductions and insights
- Human augmentation provides an insight of what lies beyond the Information
Age – the coming of the Biotech Age, where focus on the human platform will
grow to match that of the machine. This will require Defence to organise around
a human-centric approach. - Human augmentation is bringing about a securitisation of the life sciences which
will necessitate a more sophisticated relationship between the public and private
sector. - Differences in national, cultural and legal approaches will lead to an uneven
uptake of human augmentation within international alliances. Early and
close cooperation with allies will be required to realise the benefits of human
augmentation and to understand how and where coalitions can develop
interoperability and deconflict. - Human augmentation will change the character of war and may lead to
fundamentally new concepts. - Human augmentation will require entirely new classes of personnel, training
regimes and deployment protocols in the Defence arena. - Human augmentation will play a key role in reducing cognitive load and enabling
all levels of command to succeed in an increasingly complex, congested and
fluid future operating environment. - Increased survivability will be a key benefit of human augmentation, enabling
our people to be more resilient to hostile environments and enemy action.
Our ability to treat injuries and save lives closer to the point of wounding will
dramatically increase in the next 10-20 years. - Today’s rehabilitation tools, such as prosthetics and neurostimulation, will be the
technologies used in tomorrow’s enhancement. Defence should focus on these
therapeutic efforts as a pathfinder to future opportunities. - Human augmentation will create new and potentially more critical vulnerabilities
that must be considered from the outset of their development. - Human augmentation will make a critical contribution to the ISTAR process by
improving the interface between sensor, processing and dissemination.