NATO Centres of Excellence Directors’ Conference, Vicenza, 3-6 October 2021
From 3-6 October 2021, NATO SFA COE Director participated in
the Centre for Excellence (CoE) Directors’ Conference chaired by the NATO
Stability Policing (NSP) CoE Director in Vicenza, ITA.
The first day of the conference opened with a series of
addresses from representatives at the national, regional and civic level, and
orientating briefings from representatives from NATO HQ, SHAPE and HQ SACT, as
well as focused briefs from several CoEs. The first day was also an opportunity
for the moderator to set the scene and to introduce the work for the upcoming
days.
The second day comprised the working portion of the
conference, constructed around the idea of a collective Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) appreciation of the CoE enterprise. The
outputs of the appreciation and first impression analysis were discussed on the
third day, culminating in a series of recommendations to take the outputs
forward.
Academics and brainstorming sessions among all the COE
Directors emphasized that, in the rapidly evolving security environment, all
organizations including CoEs must re-examine their roles in order to maintain
relevance and to serve their customers best. Outcomes of the conference will be
the basis for consolidating improvements and further reforms.