NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, officially opened the new NATO Communications and Information Academy (NCI Academy) on 26 May 2021, a world-class training facility for NATO Allies and Partners in Oeiras, Portugal.
The NCI Academy delivers individual and collective training on NATO systems that support operations and exercises. Operators trained in the Academy will go on to maintain NATO's IT and communications systems, as well as its ballistic missile and cyber defences.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, gave remarks at the Academy, and unveiled a new plaque to commemorate the milestone.
The Secretary General said: "NATO is the most successful Alliance in history for different reasons, but one of the most important reasons is that we have always been able to change, adapt and to maintain our technological edge. And this cyber academy is helping to do exactly that also for the future. It helps to train, educate personnel in different cyber skills – the future personnel that our Alliance is so dependent on."
The Prime Minister said: "It is indeed an honour for Portugal to host such a cutting-edge education and training facility, which plays a crucially important role, not only in digitally enabling the NATO workforce, but also in driving NATO's digital transformation."
NCI Agency General Manager Kevin J Scheid said: "The NCI Academy is a critical hub for Allies and Partners to train together on NATO systems, enhancing the Alliance's interoperability and resilience. Comprehensive, agile training is key to keeping NATO's technological edge. We are proud to build on our 60 year history, legacy in Latina, Italy, of communications and information training."