NATO: UK industry day, 24 September 2009

"The UK is extremely good at innovation - something we need to bring to the NATO party as a nation to ensure appropriate capability developments".

The annual UK NATO Industry Day took place on 24 September 2009 in NATO HQ in Brussels, with a record level of 111 attendees from across British industry.

The event was opened by the UK Ambassador to NATO, Sir Stewart Eldon and the Deputy Military Representative to NATO, Brigadier Jeremy Thorn.

During his introduction Ambassador Eldon outlined ongoing changes within NATO, and the impact those changes, the NATO operation in Afghanistan and the global economic crisis is having on NATO procurement. Brig. Thorn said “[NATO] must keep an eye to the long term and changing environment and requirements… Priorities are key. The UK is extremely good at innovation - something we need to bring to the NATO party as a nation to ensure appropriate capability developments.”

Presentations made on Industry Day (see below) covered the NATO project cycle, contracting methods and lessons learned. Participants had the opportunity to have informal discussions with the main NATO procurement agencies, and to hear at first hand from some companies of their experiences, and how they had changed their approach to successfully win business. Attendees heard Hugh O’Donnell, Managing Director of DPM Water Technologies Ltd, comment that “NATO needs companies large enough to manage the contract, but small enough that the contract matters to them”.

The UK Delegation distributed copies of our new 'Navigating NATO procurement' guide, which can be downloaded from the UKTI DSO site, or email your request to Selby.Weeks@fco.gov.uk.

The next Industry Day is currently scheduled for end September 2010, but in response to feedback at this year’s event event, we will investigate the potential to host smaller, more targeted events, depending on demand. So far, the suggested seminars (max. 40 attendees each) include:

How do SME's do business with NATO?
Understanding the procurement opportunities in constructing the new NATO HQ building;
Procurement procedures for Alliance Operations and Missions.

If you would like to register your interest in these potential events, or equally, if you would like to suggest a subject for a future industry event, please email the UK Delegation at Selby.Weeks@fco.gov.uk.

The day covered the following areas of interest and the presentations given are below:

Developments in NATO
UK Permanent Representative to NATO
Delivering Military Capabilities
Deputy UK Military Representative to NATO
Role of UKTI DeSO in NATO
UKTI Assistant Director (NATO)

Role of UKTI DeSO in NATO (PDF)
Life Cycle of an NSIP project
UK NATEX

Life Cycle of an NSIP project (PDF)
NATO procurement policies which impact on industry - presentations from:
NATO International Staff