In his briefing, Dr Hargreaves introduced the NCI Academy, and the larger NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) to which it belongs, explaining the Agency's history and highlighting its mission to lead NATO's digital transformation.
Roundtable discussions between Dr Hargreaves and the Minister touched upon several topics, including transformation in the education and training domain, and the Academy's role as an innovation enabler. The two discussed the need to increase collaboration between the Academy and North Macedonia to facilitate more rapid design and development of new educational content.
"We need agile delivery platforms, versatile educational staff and dynamic learning platforms that can accommodate a whole new generation of learners," Dr Hargreaves said. "We need to be able to train these learners from where they are, geographically and educationally, and we need to keep them current. We would benefit the Alliance by investing in agile blended approaches and agile content development."
During the visit, the Minister expressed interest in exploring ways to further cooperate with the NCI Academy, such as developing a national cyber curriculum to be delivered at the North Macedonia Military Academy.
Following the discussions, the delegation toured the NCI Academy facility, where they visited the satellite communications technical laboratory and its outdoor training area, and witnessed a course in progress on using tactical satellite links (TACSAT). Before the end of the visit, a Macedonian student, who attended a week course at the Academy, had the privilege to meet with the Minister.
In a message left in the guest book, the Minister wrote: "This is a remarkable and forward-leaning entity that I hope will influence our NATO community to prepare quickly for our future challenges. I hope we will increase the cooperation with the NCI Academy."
About the NCI Academy: 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. Click here for more on the Academy.