"This edition of NITEC Connect comes just days after the NATO Summit, where leaders set an ambitious agenda to prepare the Alliance for the future and the geopolitical and cyber challenges that lie ahead. I am confident that the NCI Agency is prepared to play a central role in this ambitious future. We will continue to work with industry to ensure NATO is ready to protect and serve its nearly 1 billion citizens," NCI Agency General Manager Kevin J Scheid said on 16 June in his keynote address.
Following the General Manager's opening remarks, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană delivered a keynote address.
"Technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data or quantum computing, are at the forefront of a new industrial revolution. Their development underpins modern, secure and resilient IT systems that are vital for NATO operations and missions, and for the modernization of our very Alliance. The NCI Agency, and its partners, are key to ensuring that NATO can deliver on Allied ambitions in all of these areas," the Deputy Secretary General said.
Kay Sears, Vice President and General Manager of Military Space at Lockheed Martin Space, and Lieutenant General William J Liquori, Jr, Chief Strategy and Resourcing Officer, United States Space Force, also delivered keynotes.
Panel discussions and breakout sessions addressed topics such as space, deployable communications and NATO's 2030 initiative.
The second day of the conference begins with opening remarks from NCI Agency Chief of Staff, Major General Göksel Sevindik, followed by a keynote address from General André Lanata, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.
Further programming includes a session on how to do business with the Agency, and another on the role of emerging and disruptive technologies in cyber resilience.
And as a part of the conference, the NCI Agency is hosting a Space Pitch Day in partnership with the NATO Space Centre, located in Allied Air Command. Six qualifying teams will pitch their proposals to improve NATO's space situational awareness.