VERONA, Italy. NATO’s ability to adapt in an era of disruptive change depends on how well it can turn ideas into action. This week in Verona, the combined Concept Development plus Wargaming Initiative NATO Conference brings together two communities that drive this process. It is the first time these events have been joined, and the first time NATO has hosted it instead one of the Allies. The result is a shared environment where civilian and military practitioners, Allies, industry, and academics explore how NATO can think, plan, and transform with greater coherence and speed.
Concept development and wargaming serve different purposes, yet they reinforce each other. Concept development gives the Alliance new ways to approach emerging challenges, while wargaming tests ideas in conditions that mirror real pressure and uncertainty. Together, they offer a unified pathway from exploration to implementation.
Concept Development and Experimentation is NATO’s tool for examining new ideas, evaluating future concepts, and shaping the next generation of capabilities. Built on Military Committee guidance, it provides a structured method for identifying why an idea matters, what it offers, and how it can be developed or applied. At its best, concept development acts as the “ways” that connect strategic ends to available means. It gives the Alliance solution focused ideas that support capability development, influence doctrine and education, and strengthen the military instrument of power.
Concepts matter most when they help NATO stay ahead of challenges posed by competitors. New ideas, emerging technologies, and operational innovation give the Alliance options, but only when concepts are carried through to implementation. That remains an area of renewed attention, with recent work such as the Cognitive Warfare Concept adding clearer implementation planning to ensure ideas do not stop at the page.
Be bold in your thinking. Focus on speeding up delivery. Speed is becoming one of the most notable indicators for our work as we must focus on providing usable products for delivery. This also means that we should not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by processes. Keep in mind the mission, culture new ideas, and move forward!
Captain Stephan Mauritz
Concept Development Branch Head
Wargaming provides the other essential part of the picture. Across the Alliance, wargaming is becoming a testing ground where leaders, planners, and analysts can test decisions before they face real crises. It combines human judgement with analytical rigor, creating a decision laboratory where participants explore plausible futures, challenge assumptions, and observe the consequences of their choices.
This work matters now. NATO is operating in a security environment shaped by great power competition, rapid technological change, and deliberate attempts to shape perceptions and will. Traditional planning alone is not enough. Wargaming introduces the human element that real conflict contains: uncertainty, friction, creativity, and chance. It shows where plans are resilient and where they need to change.
Rapid technology development and enhanced security threats are fundamentally changing the landscape of experimentation and wargaming in NATO. From the traditional development cycles based on known processes, we are moving to shorter term, technology and tactics-based experimentation and wargaming focused on speed of delivery.
Mrs Katie Hughes
Acting Branch Head, Experimentation and Wargaming Branch
By operating together, concept development and wargaming create a stronger cycle of learning. Ideas generated through concept development can be tested in realistic wargames. Insights from wargames feed back into the development of clearer concepts. The result is a more agile and coherent approach to NATO capability development and decision support.
As the conference continues in Verona, participants are focusing on topics that reflect the complexity of the moment, from future force design to wartime concept development, strategic decision making, and lessons drawn from Ukraine. The combined approach of concept development plus wargaming ensures that the Alliance remains ready to respond to today’s demands while shaping tomorrow’s opportunities with purpose and unity.
