On 12 May 2022, the Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence Major General Jürgen Brötz hosted the third Annual Conference with the intelligence and security related Centres of Excellence (COEs). The fourteen centres met with NATO’s intelligence and security community, discussing ongoing work strands and future opportunities for cooperation. The meeting took place in person at NATO HQ following the COE Marketplace, bringing together a vibrant community of diverse stakeholders.
In today’s security landscape, it is more important than ever for NATO to leverage the unique subject matter expertise of the COEs in support to NATO. Every COE plays a unique part in this effort, through their four pillars of work: (1) Analysis and Lessons Learned, (2) Doctrine Development and Standardisation, (3) Education, Training, Exercise, and Evaluation, and (4) Concept Development and Experimentation.
At the 2021 Summit, NATO Leaders agreed an ambitious Agenda for 2030, reiterating the importance for the Alliance to be ready for the challenges of today and tomorrow. Against this background, ambitious communities such as the one that brings together NATO’s intelligence and security staff and the related COEs play a crucial role in taking forward these efforts.
Overall, the ongoing work in the context of the NATO 2030 Agenda and the overarching strategic guidance provided at the last NATO Summit set the stage for the increasing depth of the cooperation with the centres. The intelligence and security community of COEs now has a solid basis to continue supporting the Alliance, today and tomorrow.
This year, representatives of both the Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and the Allied Command Operations (ACO) joined the Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence Major General Jürgen Brötz for the Annual Conference. The meeting was also attended by representatives from the European Union and partner nations, as well as other NATO Divisions.