From 20 to 25 October, 73 young auditors immersed themselves in an immersive week of training devoted to national defence and economic security, with a particular focus on economic intelligence as a tool for understanding, protecting and influencing in an international environment marked by power competition.
The course is structured around three complementary modules:
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- Contemporary strategic issues, to decipher the major geopolitical, technological and economic dynamics that shape power ;
- Knowledge of the architecture of economic security in France and mastery of the tools of economic intelligence, to understand the action of the State, the rationale for protecting economic assets and the tools of strategic intelligence and analysis; ;
- Managing international risks, to understand the vulnerabilities, dependencies and legal and regulatory levers that affect national sovereignty.
This course aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the economic, technological, societal and geopolitical issues that determine the sovereignty of states. In addition to knowledge, it emphasises the analytical skills and collective interpersonal skills that are essential to a culture of defence and national security:
- Identify and prioritise risks and opportunities in a complex environment; ;
- Be able to mobilise the tools and methods of business intelligence to inform strategic decision-making; ;
- Develop a culture of cooperation, rigour and discernment in the management of a collective project; ;
- To formulate well-founded, operational recommendations following interdisciplinary analysis by a committee.
The main theme of the cycle is the defence industry, with a case study of a major player in the defence industrial and technological base (DITB): the MBDA group. The auditors will be asked to produce operational recommendations based on a comprehensive business intelligence approach.
The conference debates and committee work will be enhanced by strategic visits, in particular to the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (INRIA), to understand digital innovation as a lever of power, and to the French Army Technical Section (STAT), to discover the capability and operational dimensions of technological sovereignty.
With this new and ambitious initiative, the IHEDN is confirming its role as a driving force in the training of tomorrow's strategic citizens, capable of acting with lucidity, responsibility and a spirit of defence in a world of uncertainty and global competition. This first structured cooperation between two of IHEDN's major teaching formats opens up a new dynamic: over the years, other cross-disciplinary and thematic cycles will be deployed to strengthen the bridges between defence, sovereignty, innovation, the economy and the academic world.
