Accenture and Italy’s Leonardo will build and operate a new secure cloud platform for NATO under a contract worth an estimated €200 million over seven years, as the Alliance moves to modernize its classified digital infrastructure.
The platform is expected to support secure cloud services for approximately 29,000 users across the Alliance.
Why it matters: NATO is replacing legacy digital systems with a standardized, cloud-based infrastructure designed to be more resilient to attacks and disruptions.
- The contract puts Accenture and Leonardo at the center of a seven-year effort to build part of the Alliance’s future digital backbone.
- The program connects several NATO priorities: cybersecurity, cloud adoption, interoperability and the faster deployment of new digital capabilities.
The big picture: The Protected Business Network is designed to provide the foundation for classified digital operations across the NATO enterprise.
- The goal is to allow military personnel and decisionmakers operating across different domains to communicate, coordinate and access critical data through a standardized and scalable cloud environment.
- Approved by the North Atlantic Council as a NATO-wide capability program, PBN is part of the Alliance’s broader push to accelerate its digital transformation and adopt emerging technologies while maintaining its technological edge.
Zoom in: th PBN platform. Accenture and Leonardo will design, implement and operate the core PBN platform across a multi-cloud environment provided by NCIA.
- The program will introduce a common cloud operating model and standardized engineering practices, while creating a secure environment where new digital services can be developed, deployed and maintained more rapidly.
- Leonardo will implement a Zero Trust Architecture secured by its proprietary Global Cybersec Platform, which the company describes as an AI multi-agent platform for cyber defense.
What they’re saying:
- “With this contract, we are delivering on the Alliance’s commitment to innovation, digital transformation, and collective investment in our technological future,” NCIA General Manager Dylan Browne said.
- Accenture EMEA CEO Mauro Macchi said the project would bring together the cloud and security capabilities needed to build “a digital backbone that is resilient, interoperable and ready for the future.”
- Leonardo CEO and General Manager Lorenzo Mariani framed the program in the context of the current geopolitical landscape, saying it would strengthen NATO’s “operational readiness, interoperability, and mission continuity.”
Between the lines: The structure of the contract highlights how NATO’s digital modernization increasingly brings together commercial cloud expertise and defense-focused cybersecurity capabilities.
- Accenture will work alongside Leonardo over the full seven-year contract period, while the PBN itself is intended to become the foundation for the Alliance’s future digital services.
- The agreement was signed by Browne and Olivier Girard, Accenture’s EMEA Defense Industry lead, at the NATO Summit Defense Industry Forum in Ankara, Turkey.
The bottom line: The €200 million contract moves NATO’s digital transformation from strategy toward implementation, giving Accenture and Leonardo a long-term role in building the secure cloud infrastructure that will support classified operations across the Alliance.
