The NATO CCDCOE had a pleasure to welcome the first international delegation after the COVID-19 pandemic, hosting the visit by the French Minister of European Affairs, Ms Amélie de Montchalin.
As an active contributor to cooperative cyber defence, France is a member of the CCDCOE since 2014. A French officer, LtCol Joël Gourio, is the Chief of Education and Training Branch at the CCDCOE.
Minister de Montchalin was welcomed and briefed on the activities of the Centre by the Director Colonel Jaak Tarien. During the meeting, delegations discussed current cybersecurity threats and ways to improve cyber defence expertice, notably by practical cooperation in training and providing up-to-date educational programmes designed to address the real world cyber threats.
“To better prepared to tackle ever-growing volume and variety of cyber attacks, it is of vital importance that the like-minded nations come together, like here in the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, to share their knowledge and best practices. It is for the benefit of all 25 member nations to train together and to do joint interdisciplinary research that provides huge practical value in protecting countries critical infrastructure. We are grateful for the substantial contribution by France with its high-level expertise and manpower,” said Colonel Jaak Tarien, Director of the NATO CCDCOE
The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence is a NATO-accredited knowledge hub, think-tank and training facility. The international military organisation focuses on interdisciplinary research and development, as well as training courses and exercises in the field of cyber security.
The heart of the Centre is a diverse group of international experts from 25 nations, including legal scholars, policy and strategy experts as well as technology researchers with military, government and industry backgrounds.
Membership of the Centre is open to all Allies. Currently, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States have signed on as Sponsoring Nations of the Centre. Austria, Finland and Sweden have become Contributing Participants – the status available for non-NATO nations.