1. NATO Network Enabled Capabilities
Major General Ruud van Dam
Royal Netherlands Air Force
HQ SACT, ACOS C4I and Director IS & NNEC

2. Collaborative, Network Centric, Interoperable and Interdependent
NATO C4I Evolution
Collaborative, Network Centric,
Interoperable and Interdependent
Initial
NNEC*
Concept
Integrated
C4ISR
C2 & Technology Improvements
Before we discuss the C4I Program of Work, I believe it is helpful to put the evolution of C4I technologies within the Alliance into perspective.
NATO transformation has been driven by a number of factors, including the ongoing revolution in Information Technology. Recognition of this has clearly been reflected in NATO’s CIS related goals.
As recently as 1999, at the genesis of NATO’s transformation efforts, the Alliance’s CIS goals were, by today’s standards, relatively modest.
At that time, the only clearly stated goal was deployment of a single core C2 capability to support both strategic commands.
At Prague, this ambition was expanded to focus on an Integrated C4ISR capability.
Since then, we extended our vision further, with the creation of the first NATO Network Enabled Capability concept, as an initial step toward achieving a collaborative, network centric, interoperable and interdependent environment for all NATO forces.
The clear message is that as improvements in technology have enabled new capabilities in recent years, NATO’s ambition to incorporate those capabilities has evolved commensurately.
But there is, as you would have undoubtedly heard today, more to Capabilities than just technology: DOTMLPFI.
Expanded investment into this area is only a reflection of this trend.
Core C2
Information
System
Alliance Goals and Ambitions
1999
2002
2006
2011
* NNEC – NATO Network Enabled Capability

3. C4I - Support to Transformation
Areas
Products
C4I Areas
Functional Services, Bi-SC AIS, Architecture, Capability Packages, Networks
Capability
Delivery
Effective
Engagem. & Joint
Manoeuvre
Expeditionary
Operations
Enhanced
CIMIC
Integrated Logistics
Info Superiority-NATO Network Enabled Capability
Support to
Operations (Ops)
Software / Applications
Standards, Interoperability
Demos, Prototyping Platforms
C4I Technologies
and Interoperability
NNEC Framework,
Concepts, CD&E
C4I Concept
Development
Just as improvements in communications and information technology have had a direct impact on both our personal and professional lives in recent years, these same advancements span the breadth of NATO Transformational Objective Areas.
To most effectively harness these improvements, we organize the various products and outputs of our efforts into specific C4I areas, which are then applied across all the TOAs. This approach ensures proper integration, and harmonization of capabilities, while avoiding duplication and redundancy.
This process ensures that resources invested generate the maximum benefit across all TOAs. We add value by ensuring coherence and eliminating wasteful stovepipe approaches to capability development or technology insertion.
Note also that this process is neither National nor NATO specific.
An effective C4I capability is only achievable through the seamless integration of NATO common funded systems with National systems.
The products we invest, whether they be architectures, software prototypes or integration concepts, benefit both the Alliance and individual Nations.
Intelligence Functional Svcs,
NRF Intelligence Architecture
Intelligence
Management
Life Cycle PMO

4. C4I Areas Support to Operations
Intelligence – Functional Area Services and Intelligence Reach-Back
C4I Technologies and Interoperability
Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstrations (CWID)
I will now discuss the specific C4I areas, pictured on the previous slide, and discuss what investment in these areas brings.
- At this time, operational support remains one of our key responsibilities. The Maritime Command and Control Information System is an operationally fielded C2 system that is used throughout NATO and by numerous NATO member Nations. As the lead agent for this system, we remain responsible to the operational users to ensure support to their requirements. We recognize this is not a permanent task for us, and we are working actively to transfer responsibility to NCSA. This transfer has encountered some unforeseen challenges, which we are working through. Until that time however, abandoning support to operators who rely on this capability is simply not an option.
- WISE, the Web-Enabled Information Services Environment, continues to serve as the NATO Interim portal. It is used extensively in crisis response operations in Command Centers across the Alliance, and also is used to provide information technology capability to experimentation venues. This has proven to be a particularly prudent investment since it has allowed dual use of technology makes for optimum cost efficiency. WISE will continue to provide interim information portal capability until the NATO Common Funded Capability provided by Project 31 arrives. Until then, ACO has stressed the need for continued support.
Intel ??
Management ??

5. C4I Areas Capability Delivery
Architecture Development
Capability Packages
Integration of New Functional Area Services (e.g. Air Command and Control System {ACCS})
C4I Concept Development – Support to NNEC
Overarching Architecture, Concepts, and Roadmap
While we are focused on future capabilities, we recognize that the interoperability and integration needs of NATO forces today cannot be ignored.
Programs like the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration or CWID allows us to bring together current NATO and National C2 systems to assess interoperability, and often implement improvements in short time. Focusing on interoperability of NRF forces, before they begin their rotations, directly supports operational capability.
Network Enabled Capability is at the heart of NATO transformation. The recently completed, and accepted, NNEC Feasibility Study highlights the need for an Overarching Architecture to guide future development of CIS programs, along with development of concepts to most effectively incorporate new capabilities, as well as maintenance of a capability roadmap by which to measure our progress. The work of our NNEC Integrated Capability Team, while still in its nascent stages, is focused on this concept development. For us this is critical investment, for the achievement of future network capability begins today with coherent delivery of CIS products and services.

6. NATO Network Enabled Capability (NNEC) A Working Definition
NNEC is the Alliance’s cognitive and technical ability to federate the various components of the operational environment, from the strategic level (including NATO HQ) down to the tactical levels, through a networking and information infrastructure (NII).
To set the scene, let me say that in building a NATO Network Enabled Capability we are focused on leveraging information age technologies in the transformation process to confront existing and new types of threats.
And, the model we have developed uses three interlinked domains, in sum:
§         Network,
§         Information, and
§         Human behaviour (or People, Process, Organisation).
This is the NATO Working Definition for its Network Enabled Capability:
NNEC is the Alliance’s ability to federate the various components of the operational environment, from the strategic level (including NATO HQ) down to the tactical levels, through a networking and information infrastructure or NII.

7. Air coordination centre
NNEC Fundamentals
Air coordination centre
Tactical Sensor
Sensor
Air effectors
UAV
Ground
Station
Remote
Calculation
Remote HQ
Image
interpretation
system
Coordination &
Fusion centre HQ
Access to information
Collaboration
Information Sharing
Data transport
Information assurance
First of all, what are we talking about when we speak about NNEC?
From a strategic and operational perspective, we are aiming at enhancing the mission effectiveness through the connexion of a number of sensors (or collectors), decision makers, and effectors –they may be weapons or anything else–, to ensure the best flow and use of information all along the chain of command. I assume that, in a way or another, you are all familiar with the tenets of network centric operations, and we went through them during the first two NNEC Conferences, so I will not elaborate much on them. The picture here is just one illustration of these tenets, in the specific case of a Time Sensitive Targeting scenario, however let me use it to stress a few ideas:
1/ The first one I want to emphasize is that we see the reach for NNEC as global, which means it should be available in any location that the Alliance deems suitable, within or beyond the area of responsibility. The recent experiences of operations conducted by the Alliance underline the need for expeditionary forces, and NNEC has to enable and support this key requirement.
2/ The second idea to point out is that the capability we aim at encompasses all levels of action, from the tactical to the strategic level, which is why the Remote Headquarters also appear in the slide. The recurrent request from the operators to have a reach back capacity shows clearly that the expected flow of information has to go back and forth through all levels in order to allow the appropriate situational awareness and command and control.
3/ You should also keep in mind that, besides the fact that this picture refers to a very classical military operation, NNEC aims at supporting the full range of missions, from peace support to high level intensity conflict, including humanitarian relief or other kind of missions. Moreover, NNEC must support the ability of a coalition to interact and cooperate with non-military elements of the environment, as implied in an Effect Based Approach to Operations.
Having said that, it becomes obvious that NNEC is not just about Command and Control, but is an opportunity to enhance the linkage between the various capabilities that are needed by a coalition to conduct an operation.
<Click> X XX

8. Deployments or exercises
Non-linear Approach
NEC level of
competence
Deployments or exercises
Coherence
A&B
B&C
A&B&C
Collaboration
NATO
Nation A
Nation B
Nation C
Coordination
Deconfliction
In taking forward our work, we realize fully that NATO Nations are sovereign; they make their decisions based on their own level of ambition, strategy and planning.
From the NATO perspective, we have to federate all those potentially divergent and non-compatible contributions.
Another essential factor is the difference in phasing of implementation or progress amongst member nations.
As is illustrated on this slide, this effectively implies that NATO’s overall capability might be going through different roadmaps.
Time
Implementation Considerations:
National prerogative / level of ambition/ calendar/ legacy systems
Emphasis on NRF capabilities and specific events (exercises, deployment)
Gap identification and improvement

9. Security and User Identification
Protection of information might be more costly for what you loose than for what you protect …
This slide shows what is more than likely our most significant challenge.
For some understandable reasons, most nations like to guard their information.
First, if it’s intelligence, they want to protect their sources.
Second, the level of information they possess clearly indicates their potential in some areas.
In short, it is simpler and safer not to release anything.
Yet, the power of a networked environment is built on the ability to share, and it relies on that, to improve information and knowledge by collective processes, and cross-fertilization.

10. Process & Organisation: the Human factor
Working in a network environment means trust, even when engaged in strange processes
Almost all nations working on these kinds of concepts have concluded that improvements come largely from new processes and a streamlined decision chain.
Obviously, at a national level, new processes are most probably going to be designed from the perspective of the national culture. This effectively equates to a potentially large difference in approaches.
In an NATO context, this translates into two different issues:
So far, the NATO rule, mostly at strategic level, and partly at operational levels, is to report back to nations before the final decision on engagement.
This means that NATO might be one order of magnitude short in the improvement in the decision loop that NNEC can bring when compared to an individual nation.
The second problem is about interoperability and compatibility of processes.
If we intend, thanks to NNEC, to split and spread the various blocks composing operational chains among different national components, then those elements have to be able to interact and to adhere to compatible processes and procedures.
It was already difficult to enforce technical Standardization in NATO, well then, what about standardization of processes and procedures?

11. Information Sharing and Collaboration
Education
Trust
Sharing
For all this, including security, technical solutions are possible, or should be widely available within 5 to 15 years.
The main obstacle remains the willingness to change, and to accept a “need to share” state of mind, instead of the old “need to know”.
In this domain also, there is more to win in taking controlled risk, than to loose through risk avoidance!
To solve this, our approach is first to start sharing open source information, which will already be a huge improvement compared to the actual situation. From this base, we then extend the domain building on the results.
And as an aside, it appears that most of the information that some of us are still classifying is now available in the open source environment.
We need to teach the benefits of information sharing and collaborative work

12. Approach to Cognitive Domain
Human
Processes
Operational
Results
Knowledge
Decision Making
Knowledge
Building
Execution
Simulation
Tools
Knowledge
Common
Understanding
Collaboration
Anticipation
Collaborative
Environment
Information
sharing
Knowledge
Management
Information
Situation
Assessment
I have kept the business of the cognitive domain for the end.
So what can we say to assure ourselves that all is under control, and that resolution is in sight?
NNEC is both a new concept and an evolutionary capability.
This implies an inherent difficulty to separate the various issues and avoid confusion between technical developments and cognitive implications.
Moreover, major parts of the cognitive issues related to human behavior and human understanding are poorly developed at this time.
We have to accept that all the impacts on processes and organizations cannot be defined at first, but can only emerge through experimentation and discovery.
It would be very presumptive to pretend to define today the processes that the net centricity will bring tomorrow in the military domain.
As this process will have to be mastered by Nations before NATO can take it on, for us this could turn to be more of an advantage than an inconvenience, as we will observe Nations efforts, and probably be able to follow closely behind.
It implies deployment of some tools to allow discovery and experimentation, and it has to be done in short loops (prototype and field a little, experiment a little, discover and correct the trajectory) to avoid dead ends and costly useless developments.
This means that we have to invest in simulations, allowing experimentation in a networked environment to save money.
Information
Information
Presentation
Information
Enhancement
Information
Fusion
Information
Management
Situation
Awareness
Information
Processing
Data
Data
Processing
Data
Supporting
Services
Some “sub concepts” have to be developed

13. POSSIBLE IMPOSSIBLE MISSION: ?? Hopefully not, as:
Nations are fully aware of the interest
We are not starting from scratch
Solutions and good will do exist
With that summary of NATO’s key challenges, what then could be NATO’s ambition or is it a Mission Impossible?
On the one hand, if we consider the collective capabilities of all NATO members, NATO’s ambition cannot be any less than to aim for the highest operational capability; after all, no other entity can potentially be more powerful in terms of combat power.
On the other hand, given the complexity of some of the issues raised to the 26th power, NATO’s ambition might simply be focused on the ability to operate in a networked environment!
Obviously, NATO is targeting the first option; and my team and I were tasked to solve the problems and help deliver the capability!

14. NNEC Feasibility Study
12 Nations NNEC Feasibility Study supported by NC3A (NATO Consultation, Command & Control Agency)
Primary focus on a Networking and Information Infrastructure (NII)
Architectural concepts, technologies and standards
Includes timelines, key transition points
Final report and recommendations endorsed by NATO C3 Board
To underpin future work

15. Feasibility Study Layers
Alliance Wide Perspective
“Operational”
Transformational Objective Areas
As proposed in the Feasibility Study, the NATO concept relies on the adoption of a set of rules allowing networking when provided and accepted by all the constitutive parts.
Those rules have to be as technology independent as possible, to allow for different implementation solutions.
This approach will be used to define building blocks, along different layers, allowing for the production of services.
A first approach to definitions is in the feasibility study, but this must be completed and detailed; in effect, this is one of our short-term efforts.
The good news, not only for NATO, but also for the whole community, is that industry is thinking along the same lines, as has been demonstrated by the NCOIC or the Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium with which we already have a very good relationship.
In fact, I am the HQ SACT representative to the NCO IC Advisory Council.
This will hasten implementation, as new systems will hopefully be directly designed along the Netcentric approach.
* NII = ‘National NIIs’ + NATO NII ‘The Enabling Network of Networks’
* NII = Networking & Information Infrastructure

16. Think Positive!
National network capabilities are being fielded; and NATO must build on these
NATO processes, although slow, are robust and effectively sustained
The diversity of solutions that nations can offer is hugely beneficial
Before concluding, and to end on a positive note, I would like to point out some of our strengths.
Firstly, and most important, there is a real operational need shared by both NATO and nations.
Nations did not wait for NATO to take the Network Centric route. A large number of programs starting to take advantage of the concept are being fielded and others will soon follow.
There is no doubt of the expected operational outcomes, and this idea aids convergence towards a common solution.
Secondly, however strange this may appear, the very existence of NATO procedures does help. Some can say that they are slow; they have, however, proved to be robust and federative.
Thirdly, even if they do pose compatibility problems, the diversity of solutions that nations are able to propose is a huge beneficial factor.
The specific aspects of national cultures provide new paths towards innovative solutions.
The parallel progress of national programs saves time by providing feedback and guidance.
Once again, we are not starting from scratch. An initial NNEC is already out there today, and it is running. Most certainly, not all the capabilities are available, but the roots for future growth are significant.

17. Keep in touch and know everything !
The Ideal Network ?
In conclusion, I must confide to you that my team is considering changing its NNEC logo to mimic the Vatican’s Sistine chapel drawings. After all, they illustrate the perfect network at cognitive level between two human beings and reflect the faith we also have.
More seriously, I would like to emphasize that NNEC is on track. We do not doubt our success. Our challenges constitute our strengths.
The need for NEC, proved by numerous ongoing national initiatives, is the best cement for the NATO nations pursuing this transformation goal.
We are but at the start of the long road, but I expect that Michelangelo will be proud of us at the end of the day.
This concludes my briefing.
Thank you for your attention.
Keep in touch and know everything !

18. NATO Network-Enabled Capabilities
Questions ?