NATO Information Assurance Symposium 2011

For the last 6 years SBL have worked under contract with NATO NIATC to organise the NATO Information Assurance Symposium, (NIAS) which takes place at SHAPE, Mons, Belgium each year.   

This is the most prestigious Information Assurance event in NATO’s IA Calendar and the 2011 Symposium reached an important milestone, with more than 1000 people and 60 vendor stands registered for the event, including delegates from across the entire NATO Community and vendors who not only exhibit but also participate in the full Symposium, including the plenary and workshop sessions. 

Due to the major building work taking place adjacent to the SHAPE Club the 2011  Symposium was transferred to the Events Centre  but due to the large numbers much of the event, including the plenary sessions had to be held in marquees which surrounded the  Centre itself and although there were some initial concerns regarding the logistics and noise levels from nearby roads this proved to be the most successful Symposium yet with the majority of attendees liking the set-up more than previous years.

Lieutenant General  Herrmann,  Director of NCSA  opened the symposium by identifying some of the key challenges facing the IA/CD community in NATO and asked the symposium to provide solutions and ideas on how to solve these challenges.

Further Keynote presentations followed from a number of Senior NATO Personnel including Ambassador Gabor Iklody, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, Brigadier General Giuseppe Santomartino, Director of EUMS CIS Directive and General Manfred Lange Chief of Staff SHAPE.   National Keynotes were provided by Mr Robert Joyce, Information Assurance Director, USA National Security Agency, and Mr Tom Murdoch Head of Cryptography for Information Assurance, CESG. 

The many industry partners attending the Symposium added to the success of the event, not just with the range of products and services available to view, but also through their financial commitment which makes the event possible.  Niksun were the Platinum Sponsor for 2011 and their CEO, Dr Parag Pruthi  gave a presentation on the first day of the event.  Four other vendors, Cassidian, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft and Thales also made a major commitment to NIAS 2011 by becoming Gold Sponsors of the event.  

The opportunities for networking were prominent throughout the agenda giving everyone ample time to view new IA/CD technologies and meet other NATO IA people who are grappling with the same problems and the networking evening on Day One provided additional time in the exhibition area for delegates and vendors  to chat over a glass of wine and canapés before joining in the  Bavarian evening with NATO’s own band ‘Funk Yard Dawg’. 

The combination of workshops, networking, exhibition and the opportunity to listen to both senior NATO and Industry personnel make the NATO IA Symposium a unique event which NATO’s Industry Partners are keen to include in their plans each year.