This NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme (SPS) grant G5631, “Senior Leadership Roundtable on Information-Related Hybrid Threats in South East Europe (SEE)” was awarded to Dr. Itamara Lochard, Director of Cyber Policy Studies at CARE and will be co-executed with the General Mihailo Apostolski Military Academy – Skopje, Associate Member of the University of Goce Delčev – Stip, North Macedonia and the University of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It aims to assess and share best practices on the information-related elements of hybrid threats, including misinformation, disinformation, non-information, and media (traditional or social). This award has two deliverables: A roundtable and a book contract to publish the findings that emerge from the event. These grants are peer-reviewed by an international academic group of experts as well as the NATO technical staff prior to a third review by all 29 Alliance member countries
2019 Roundtable:
A seven-day gathering of approximately 70 people will take place in Ohrid, North Macedonia from 6-12 October. A roundtable format is used in lieu of a conference style to foster an exchange of knowledge, thoughts, and approaches that create and strengthen regional and international expert networks required to build trust and cooperation. This will more effectively address the fluid security dynamics of information-related attacks that impact the Alliance.
The target audience is comprised of senior government, military, academic, and NGO members who are responsible for developing, implementing, and communicating policies to state leaders in SE Europe. This includes specialists in cyber, linguists, sociology counter-terrorism, intelligence, public relations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR), strategic communications, and crisis management.
This special 2019 NATO SPS award is the second Senior Leadership Roundtable by the Alliance in the region. This award is a continuation of the 2017 NATO SPS grant that first addressed hybrid threats in the SE Europe that affect the Alliance, “G5158: Senior Leadership Roundtable on Military and Defense Related Threats in SE Europe.” That effort was awarded to Dr. Lochard; it was co-executed by GMU, United States National Defense University, and the General Mihailo Apostolski Military Academy – Skopje.
Speakers and Participant Institutions:
Mr. Mark Laity, Director of the Communications Division at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) will serve as keynote. His bio may be found here. Senior-level speakers and participants from the following institutions will attend. A representative from every country in the Balkans has confirmed as well.
(For a full speakers list, please go here. )
Albanian Policy Center, NGO
American Chamber of Commerce, Cyber Security Working Group, Italy
Atlantic Council of Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Public Relations Department, Ministry of Defense
Bulgarian Atlantic Council, Defense Policy Working Group
Bulgaria, “G.S. Rakovski” National Defense College, Sofiia.
Carnegie Mellon University, Computer Science Department, Institute for Software Research, United States
Carnelutti Law Firm, Italy
Estonian Defense Forces HQ, Strategic Communications Division
Estonian Government Communication Unit
George Mason University, United States
George C. Marshall Center for European Security Studies
General Mihailo Apostolski Military Academy – Skopje, Associate Member of the University of Goce Delčev – Stip, North Macedonia
GlobalFocus Romania
Hellenic Republic, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology, Laboratory of Mountainous Water Management and Control and Laboratory of Geology and Petrography
Hellenic Republic, Fire Service
Hellenic Republic, Research Institute for European and American Studies
Institute for Security, Defense, and Peace – Department of Philosophy, North Macedonia
International Center for Defense and Security (ICDS), Estonia
Montenegro, Directorate of Protection of Classified Information
Montenegro, Counter Intelligence Protection Department, Ministry of Defense
Montenegro, National Security Agency
Montenegro, Intelligence Security Directorate
NATO Allied Command Transformation – TBC
NATO Center of Excellence Defense Against Terrorism (COE-DAT) – TBC
NATO HUMINT Center of Excellence (HCOE)
NATO Kosovo-Force (KFOR)
NATO P-TEC Public Affairs Regional Council (PARC)
NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence (StratCom-COE)
NATO Rapid Deployable Corps-Italy (NRDC-ITA) – TBC
North Macedonia, Army HQ, J2 and J9
North Macedonia, Cabinet of the President – TBC
North Macedonia, Directorate for Security and Classified Information
North Macedonia, International Cooperation Department, Crisis Management Center
North Macedonia, Ministry of Defense
North Macedonia, Ministry of Interior
North Macedonia, Protection and Rescue Directorate, Department of Prevention, Planning, and Development
Partnership for Peace Consortium (PfPC)
Pennsylvania State University, College of Information Sciences and Technology, United States
Rhino 911 NGO, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ukraine, Monitoring and Change Management unit, Strategic Planning and European Integration Department, Administration of the State Border Guard Service
San Diego State University, Environmental Security and Global Medicine, United States
Singularity University, Global Grand Challenges and Exponential Medicine, United States
Supervising Board of Maritime Electronic Centre, Croatia
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE)
Union-Nikola Tesla University, Department of International Policy and Security, Serbia
United Kingdom Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (dstl) – TBC
United States Embassy in North Macedonia – (representative to be determined)
United States European Command (Department of Defense) – TBC
United States Joint Special Operations University (Department of Defense)
United States Office of Naval Research (Department of Defense) – TBC
United States Sandia National Laboratories (Department of Energy)
University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Department of Information Sciences and Collaboration for Social Media and Online Behavioural Studies (COSMOS), United States
University of Advancing Technology, United States
University of Bath, Department of Computing Science, United Kingdom
University of Belgrade, Security Studies Department, Serbia
University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies, Department of Informatics and Computer Science, Serbia
University of Ljubljana, Nautical Studies and Department of Maritime Studies and Transport, Slovenia
University of Niš, Department of Electronic Engineering, Serbia
University of Sarajevo, Department of Criminalistics, Criminology, and Security Studies, Bosnia and Herzegovina
University of Texas at San Antonio – Information Systems and Cyber Security Department, United States
University of Turin, English Linguistics and Political and Military Discourse Analysis, Department of Culture, Politics, and Society, Italy