Colonel Daniel Hikes-Wurm

Colonel Daniel Hikes-Wurm is a Senior Advisor for Defence Policy at the Directorate General for Defence Policy of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence (Bundesministerium für Landesverteidigung), based in Vienna. He serves in the Department of Defence Policy and Strategy, where he works on the security and defence policy implications of technological change.

His policy focus, as stated in his official biography for the Journal of Information Warfare, is “the security and defence policy implications of technological developments, such as Artificial Intelligence and emerging and disruptive technologies, Cyber Defence policy, and hybrid threats.” That intersection — where the procurement, doctrine, and legal frameworks of European defence meet the pace of frontier civilian technology — is one of the most consequential domains in current European policy work.

He holds the rank of Oberst (Colonel, OF-5) in the Austrian Bundesheer’s senior military specialist service (des höheren militärfachlichen Dienstes). His academic credentials include a Mag.(FH), an MA, and an MAS, reflecting graduate work across applied sciences, arts, and advanced strategic studies.

Hikes-Wurm is one of the more publicly active voices on Austria’s defence-technology posture. In May 2025 he delivered the opening keynote of the Theresan Military Academic Forum 2025 at the Theresan Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt, setting the thematic tone for an event focused on autonomous warfare. In April 2024 he spoke at the Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference (GISEC) in Dubai, on fortifying national and EU cyber defence through regional collaboration and technological innovation. He has also represented the Austrian Chief of the General Staff at the 9th Istanbul Security Conference organised by TASAM.

Hikes-Wurm publishes regularly on European defence policy and technological sovereignty. His contributions include “Digital and Technological Sovereignty of the European Union: Strategic Necessity to Survive in the Global Competition?!” in the Journal of Information Warfare (Vol. 23, Issue 3), as well as multiple ISS Aktuell and ISS Lagebild reports for the Austrian Ministry of Defence and the annual Zur strategischen Lage assessments. His full bibliography is available on the Bundesheer scientific publications portal, with an additional author profile on the Austrian military journal TRUPPENDIENST.