The main goal of this project is to examine how the growing complexity of the international security environment, the increasing "joint and combined" dimension of military operations, and the new technologies including information technology do influence the net-centric posture of major European countries. Particularly, the focus is on the Italian Ministry of Defence programme "Forza NEC", aimed to make the Italian Army more able to conduct net-centric operations and more interoperable with Allies armed forces through the involvement of important Italian industrial partners.

The research project aims to analyze the Italian debate on military issues, in particular with respect to defence spending and Italian participation in mission abroad. Besides working on primary and secondary resources, the study has involved about 30 interviews, carried out between June and September 2013, with institutions, Armed Forces, private sector, media, academics, NGO and civil society. As part of the research project, a conference was held in Rome on 16 July 2013, entitled "Defence under attack: Costs and Benefits".