On 27 January 2016, the NCI Agency Director of Demand Management (DDM), Dr Velizar Shalamanov, visited MARCOM HQ in Northwood (UK) to meet with Customer Representative (N6) and to agree the Joint Partnership Statement with the Commander (COM) of MARCOM.
The main focus of the visit was to further develop our relationship with MARCOM to reinforce on the Joint Partnership Statement between MARCOM and the NCI Agency. Picking up from when VADM Johnstone visited the GM at NCI Agency HQ on 12 January 2016, Dr Shalamanov, hosted by the CSU Northwood Commander, GP CAPT Dixon, was able to engage with senior MARCOM staff to capture the VADM's intent in a re-drafted Statement.
Building up the partnership will facilitate a closer working relationship between MARCOM and the Agency, including developing new ways the Agency can better contribute to the realisation of the Alliance's Maritime Strategy. When meeting with the COM, DDM was left in no doubt that the priority for COM MARCOM is to improve the operational output of the HQ. To help achieve this goal DDM encouraged MARCOM to take on the important role of Senior User for maritime projects such as TRITON; this would help ensure that the operational community had effective oversight of the requirements and that they were being delivered by the projects.
The visit also provided an opportunity to address with MARCOM N6 staff current service provision issues and to discuss opportunities for improvements, including more regular feedback on maritime related CRF and CP projects. The Agency Account Manager for MARCOM was present on the visit and worked directly with the MARCOM staff addressing MARCOM projects and the Service Level Agreement for 2016.