idD Portugal Defence represents Portugal at the NATO Industrial Advisory Group (NIAG) plenary meetings, which take place in Rome on 15 and 16 0f November.
In the same week, the NATO Industry Forum (NIF) will take place on November 17th and 18th, and an Industry Day, on November 19th, organised by Italy, with real demonstrations using the means of the Armed Forces of that country.
The NIAG was established in October 1968 to support the Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD), facilitating cooperation between NATO and Allied defence industries.
The group, which meets three times a year, allows NATO to have a better connection with companies, and to keep abreast of industrial technology developments that are relevant to its needs, namely through the financing of studies with participation of the Armed Forces, companies, and independent experts, including those associated with Universities and Research Centres.
Over time, the NIAG portfolio has expanded to provide support, in addition to the CNAD, to other NATO bodies and organisations involved in capacity development, such as Allied Command Transformation (ACT), responsible for modernizing the Alliance in the face of new and complex challenges.
The plenary will discuss, among other aspects, the status of ongoing joint studies, focused on challenges that the Alliance will face in the coming years and decades, as well as the approval of a new cycle of studies for 2022.
The NATO Industry Forum is the main venue for strategic dialogue with industry on the planning, development and delivery of NATO capabilities and is personally sponsored by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, with contributions from the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, General Philippe Lavigne, and NATO’s Deputy Secretary General for Defence Investment, Camille Grand.
This year, the Forum provides an opportunity for industry leaders to contribute to the debate on the development of NATO’s new Strategic Concept, which will be endorsed at the 2022 Summit in Madrid, focusing on the impact of Emerging Disruptive Technologies on the Alliance and plenary sessions on the challenges and opportunities of cloud networks, artificial intelligence and systems with autonomous functions, as well as anticipating the capabilities that will be needed by our defence forces in the next decade, concluding with recommendations on how to improve NATO’s resilience in the current security environment geopolitics.
