As of 1 September 2018 Colonel Jaak Tarien, former Commander of Estonian Air Force for the past six years, will assume the role of Director of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence based in Estonia.
Merle Maigre, current Director of CCDCOE, will take on a new challenge in September by joining CybExer Technologies, an Estonian cyber security company which is rapidly expanding its operations both in Estonia and abroad.
Colonel Tarien served as Commander of Estonian Air Force from August 2012 to July 2018.
Colonel Tarien, a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, earned his Master’s degree from the Air Command and Staff College of the USAF Air University. He recently also acquired Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy at the U.S. National Defence University. Colonel Tarien has also served as Staff Officer with NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (ACT), as Deputy Director of the Regional Airspace Surveillance Coordination Centre and as Commander of the Estonian team at the BALTNET Regional Airspace Surveillance Co-ordination Centre in Lithuania.
NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) is a NATO-accredited cyber defence hub focusing on research, training and exercises. The international military organisation based in Estonia is a community of currently 21 nations providing a 360-degree look at cyber defence, with expertise in the areas of technology, strategy, operations and law.
CCDCOE is home of the Tallinn Manual 2.0, the most comprehensive guide on how International Law applies to cyber operations. The Centre also organises the world’s largest and most complex international live-fire cyber defence exercise Locked Shields. CCDCOE hosts annually the International Conference on Cyber Conflict, a unique event bringing together key experts and decision-makers of the global cyber defence community.
The Centre is staffed and financed by member nations – to date Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. Australia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Japan, Norway, Romania and many others are also on the path of joining the Centre.
Photo of Colonel Jaak Tarien (Estonian Defence Forces, photographer Kaupo Kikkas)