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Ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, other barriers are crumbling within the German defense community. The private sector is playing a key role in convincing the military to abandon its old ways of doing business and adapt to the dynamism of the information age.

Germany has accelerated a longtime move toward acquisition reform by consolidating diverse activities in its main procurement agency. These changes have been driven largely by Germany's new security mission and by the need to incorporate substantial amounts of high technology into hardware and doctrine.

The United Kingdom is implementing acquisition reforms designed to produce less costly military systems faster and more effectively. These choice program innovations are being applied across the entire spectrum of defense purchases as the country revamps its procurement process for changing missions in a changing time.

Defense electronics contractors are going commercial in a bid to equip the United Kingdom with a rapidly deployable battlefield communications network. The country's Ministry of Defence is seeking a commercial off-the-shelf solution that is low-risk, easy to enhance and ready for deployment in about two years.

A U.S.-German security education institution is seizing on discussion animated by international differences to build closer ties among North American, European and Central Asian nations. Military and government participants are encouraged to explore new ideas and approaches, rather than follow the lead of existing institutions and methodologies.

The Allied Forces Central Europe Command, once a bastion of Western Europe's defensive line, is reinventing itself to serve as a key element in alliance operations outside its area of responsibility. It is consolidating with another regional command, incorporating two of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's newest members into its structure, and preparing to serve as a parent headquarters to other alliance commands.

German technologists are employing commercial off-the-shelf components to develop communication systems for security agencies. Under a single umbrella organization, they are combining networking services and the secure links mandated by government organizations that are potential targets of hostile cyberspace intruders.

Distributed computer simulation training is bringing forces together and trimming instruction costs for North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Partnership for Peace nations. The worldwide military training moves 27 countries toward greater readiness and interoperability and prepares commanders and their staffs for humanitarian and peacekeeping operations.

A European organization is heading a global effort to develop standards for an emerging market in telecommunications-voice over Internet protocol. Aiming to write specifications that will achieve worldwide acceptance among industry, administrators, regulators and other standards bodies, this group is gathering support from related organizations and experts in the field of Internet protocol telephony.

The need to extend operations beyond conventional alliance borders is driving technology development in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The alliance is embracing digital technologies to pave the way for its new command and control infrastructure, which must be flexible enough for a variety of potential missions.