International

	A Polish soldier serving with the International Security Assistance Force maintains radio contact while on patrol in Afghanistan. The creation of the new NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency consolidates several legacy agencies into a single organization with the goal of speeding new technologies to the warfighter faster.

The absorption of several NATO agencies into a single entity, coupled with the need to reform the acquisition of information systems, is clearing the way for the Atlantic alliance to speed the newest information technologies to warfighters far more quickly than previously attainable. The new entity will serve all aspects of communications and information technology development and acquisition under a single umbrella organization.

With all these eggs in one basket, NATO aims to eliminate redundancy and bottlenecks. The goal is to ensure that NATO forces receive the newest technologies without seeing their systems approach obsolescence before fielding is completed. Efficiencies inherent in the new construct also would save valuable funds as defense budgets worldwide face significant cuts from financial pressures.

Stabilire una collaborazione maggiore con il settore privato è uno degli obiettivi primari della NATO nel momento in cui è necessario adattarsi al mutare delle tendenze politiche, finanziarie e militari. Una partnership forte con l’industria è considerata dai membri dell’alleanza la chiave per aprire la porta a idee e soluzioni innovative in un momento di limitazioni finanziarie. Tuttavia, l’impiego di tale fucina di idee pone alcune difficoltà per l’organizzazione multinazionale.

La NATO pone la sua partnership con l’industria su un piano di alta priorità, in quanto mira a migliorare la collaborazione in un momento di ristrettezze finanziarie e di trasformazione profonda delle esigenze operative. Il beneficio primario che l’Alleanza Atlantica cerca è l’ottimizzazione dei processi industriali che consentano soprattutto l’impiego delle tecnologie più innovative.

Raggiungere tali obiettivi, in particolare nel campo delle comunicazioni e dei sistemi elettronici, richiede un processo di acquisizione delle capacità operative più agile. Tuttavia, la NATO è ostacolata in questo sforzo dalla sua natura d’organizzazione multinazionale che deve tenere in giusta considerazione le esigenze degli Stati membri.

“Stiamo utilizzando i fondi di 28 nazioni che sono tutte sotto pressione finanziaria e pertanto esse esamineranno in modo molto critico tutto il lavoro che facciamo con l’industria,” riferisce il Magg. Gen. Koen Gijsbers, RNLA (in pensione), direttore generale della NCI, Agenzia NATO per le Comunicazioni e le Informazioni di recente formazione. “In questo contesto, è necessario stabilire una modalità di collaborazione più efficace ed efficiente.”

Establishing a greater partnership with the private sector is one of NATO’s primary goals as it adjusts to changing political, financial and military trends. A strong partnership with industry is viewed by alliance members as the key to opening the door to innovative solutions in a time of fiscal limitations. However, tapping that wellspring of imagination poses some difficulties for the multinational organization.

NATO places its partnership with industry on a high plane, and it aims to improve that partnership in a time of severe financial constraints and transforming combat needs. Foremost among the benefits that the Atlantic alliance seeks is best industry practices, especially for delivering the latest technologies.

Achieving its goals, particularly in the arena of communications and electronics systems, will require a more agile process. However, NATO is handicapped in this effort by its nature as a multinational organization that must take its members’ needs into account.

“We are spending the money of 38 nations that basically are all under financial pressure, so they will scrutinize all the work that we do with industry,” relates Maj. Gen. Koen Gijsbers, RNLA (Ret.), the general manager of the newly formed NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency. “In that environment, we need to find a relationship to make this [partnership] most effective and efficient.”

This is one opportunity that is being driven by necessity. Because of the global financial crisis—which has hit Europe and the United States particularly hard—all military and government planners must do more with less. So, tapping the font of innovation that emerges from commercial technologies and capabilities offers a way for NATO to achieve its modernization goals without exceeding its shrinking budget.