Remarks

Thank you very much, thank you to all the guests for coming today, Ambassadors, it’s wonderful to see you all here today and we have some eminent figures from capitals as well, so thank you for joining us today.

I apologise to you in advance, I was out playing with all the technology outside for about ten minutes, so if you haven’t had a chance to look at the projects that are on display outside, I do urge you to take some time because it’s fascinating what these teams have done, and the other thing I like about it so much is it shows collaborative work across the Alliance and across our network of partners as well, with partners involved from Asia, from the ROK, and Japan, across to the other side of the world in Europe, where our partners in the Western Balkans, Serbia for example and our partners in Ukraine and Georgia are also very involved in these projects, so it’s absolutely a terrific example of NATO Allies and partners working together. 

So, it’s truly a pleasure for me to be with you today to help to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of science cooperation at NATO.

I am a strong, and throughout my career, I’ve been a strong advocate of science diplomacy. In my own work, I’ve seen first hand the central importance of science and technology, for example to provide for safeguards to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons, and I’ve seen time and again how science and technology can foster international cooperation where other routes simply may not be open. Science has the ability to build partnerships between and among countries and people’s partnerships that can survive political tensions across the board. Of course, scientific cooperation is of global, not just transatlantic interest, and while NATO science programme was started to boosted cooperation between Allies, as I noted a moment ago, it’s now open to partners.

It was at the turn of the century, this century, that the Science Programme became the NATO Science for Peace and Security programme, bringing our partners from around the world into the fold. This has led to tremendous practical cooperation, as I mentioned a moment ago, between Allies and partners, so I’m proud to say here at NATO we have a truly global science community.

 Over the years, through SPS, as well as through the NATO Science and Technology Organisation, NATO has helped to foster collaborative research on a wide range of problems. Many of the defining challenges of the 21^st century have a scientific dimension.

As we celebrate today NATO’s achievements in science, allow me to look briefly at our scientific future and venture a few comments in that regard. Our world is marked by overwhelming complexity, requiring different instruments and approaches.

Today’s security threats go well beyond conventional military responses, and considering cyber threats and advances in artificial intelligence, we see that our challenges, as well as our opportunities, sometimes may be found beyond traditional physical domains.  It is science that provides our understanding of emerging security challenges, and it is science that underpins our solutions.

In the world, science diplomacy and international scientific cooperation are an absolute must. Research and innovation are not simply “nice to have”, or a matter of national prestige – they are part of an essential collective responsibility.

Staying on top of scientific advances and finding alternative approaches to our current security challenges, including terrorism and hybrid threats, demand continued and concerted scientific pursuit.

Cooperation through science will continue to provide opportunities to build relationships and foster innovation that contribute to peace and stability. We have achieved a great deal through this work over the past 60 years. I’m confident that these pursuits will continue to bear fruit into the future, and perhaps to seed interest in this audience in bearing further fruit, let’s now recognise the three outstanding projects as recipients of our science partnership prize. So, Deniz, please join me up here on stage.

Well, I just want to say once again how very proud I am of the wide range of Allies and partners we have involved in these projects and it shows so well I think how NATO can bring people together to work on security and defence, of course, but also to work on scientific projects, that will be for the larger benefit of the global community.

So for all the scientists and especially for the young scientists here today but also for their experienced elders who are helping to guide work going forward, really very much appreciate all the contributions that you are making and thank you for your engagement with us here at NATO as well. So, I will be able to stay for a little while, I did want to hear some of what it is going on this afternoon, I must say I’ll have to sneak away before too long, but thank you for the opportunity and thank you to Deniz and your team for all the work putting this together.