NATO SFA COE PARTICIPATED IN THE 2020 ICD&E CONFERENCE
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 20th edition of the
ICD&E Annual Conference, was held entirely on various web platforms, using
a virtual setting that offered the possibility for all participants to continue
to explore ways to engage with each other and share their knowledge and
experience. This conference demonstrated, once again, the benefits of
participating in an international exchange of visions in the specific area of
Concept Development and Experimentation (CD&E).
As Rear Admiral John Tammen (Deputy Chief of Staff,
Strategic Plans and Policy of ACT) stated in his welcoming address, “the
COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that the Alliance must stay resilient. NATO
will face new strategic shocks and unpredicted unforeseen events with extreme
consequences. We must be ready to absorb these shocks and to adapt the new
situation as soon as possible in order to cope with future crises”.
In this context, the Concept Development and
Experimentation processes can help the Alliance in coping with new transformations
and challenges. The conference represented a great opportunity to implement
these processes, since it was aimed at harnessing the cognitive power of the 30
nations, also including their Centres of Excellence. Furthermore, it tried to
involve partner nations and to take advantage of the wide expertise of other
NATO entities, such as the science and technology organizations.
Other important topics discussed amongst the
international experts and practitioners concerned legal, moral and ethical
issues. During the first session the panellists discussed the regulatory gaps, the
related ethical problems and the importance in developing solutions for the
lack of ethical standards. Whilst at the same time emphasizing the importance of
adopting an interdisciplinary and holistic approach involving as many
stakeholders as possible During the second session, the NATO SFA COE had the
opportunity to illustrate the project on the “Rule of Law and Good Governance
Publication”, that focuses on the importance of creating a clear legal
framework during operations and including rule of law principles in the
training programs designed for the local forces in crisis zones.
The NATO SFA COE continues to support ACT in
understanding the future threats and challenges that will occur across the five
operational domains and to assist the Alliance in the development of future
NATO military instruments of power, also actively participating in the creation
of the NATO Warfighting Capstone Concept (NWCC), the evolution of Strategic
Foresight Analysis (SFA), the Framework for Future Alliance Operations regional
reports and other dedicated research.
In addition, through several web platforms, the ICD&E
Virtual Conference 2020 gave the CD&E professionals an opportunity to build
up Communities of Interest for discussing their projects, improving their
interaction with CD&E, promoting their expertise and sharing their best
practices.
Therefore, in these fora, the NATO SFA COE contributed
to the open discussion, providing ideas and concepts gained through its
experience in the Security Force Assistance (SFA) environment.
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