Lisbon hosts NATO-Industry forum 2015
Director General of the International Military Staff, Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper, joined the panel discussion on “Building Opportunities” at the 2015 NATO-Industry Forum (19-20 October).
The NATO-Industry Forum 2015 is the primary venue for strategic dialogue with the defence and security industry on NATO capability planning and development. The purpose of the event is to share and develop NATO and Industry perspectives to efficiently address the current and foreseeable security challenges of the Alliance.
The NATO-Industry Forum (NIF) addresses a recognised need for an elevated strategic dialogue between NATO and Industry to ensure that the Alliance benefits from the best solutions to military requirements, within expected budget and time constraints, now and in the foreseeable future.
Recent geopolitical dynamics have put readiness at the top of NATO’s priorities and guided this year’s NIF agenda towards adaptation, transformation and innovation highlighting the critical dimensions of maintaining the operational and technological edge of NATO forces. Building opportunities and finding incentives for trans-Atlantic cooperation will help improve interoperability, deployability, sustainability and affordability of NATO capabilities.
The Forum benefitted from the contribution of a broad spectrum of participants, including Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper, Director General of the International Military Staff (DGIMS), who joined the discussion panel “Building opportunities”. The discussion centred on answering the following question: “As Heads of State and Government have pledged at the Wales Summit to reinvest in security, how Nations and Industry, from European and transatlantic perspectives, can stimulate investments and initiate cooperation for the benefit of Allied Nations?”
Highlighting the need to continue allowing industry to contribute to NATO training and exercises, and to promote joint investments in research and developments, DGIMS emphasized the expectations for the future NATO-Industry engagement, stating that “Industry must be allowed to contribute with innovative solutions, best practices, new services, that result in cost-effective solutions, flexibility, innovation, and speed of delivery.”
Sponsored by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the Forum is co-organised by Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, General Denis Mercier, and NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment, Mr. Patrick Auroy.