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Mar 4 2025

NCIA Chief Technology Officer discusses innovation initiatives at the Mobile World Congress 2025

On 3 March 2025, Antonio Calderon, the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) Chief Technology Officer (CTO), participated in the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Spain. The event, taking place from 3 to 6 March 2025, brings together senior leaders from global companies, international governments and technology-focused businesses, to converge, connect and create.

Calderon joined Ted K. Woodward, Technical Director at the US Department of Defense, General Frederico Juste, Deputy Commanding Officer of Spanish Cyberspace Joint Command and Jesus Abraham, Head of Defence Innovation at Telefonica Spain in a panel discussion focused on ‘Federated multi-domain 5G test ranges in NATO countries.’ The CTO explained two key NCIA initiatives to leverage innovation across the Alliance; the NATO Digital Foundry and the ongoing Multinational Collaboration on 5G (MN5G) programme.

The NATO Digital Foundry will provide an open platform for NCIA, industry, Not-for-Profit (NFP) partners, and NATO stakeholders to collaborate together on rapid innovation, testing, experimentation, and deployment of critical technologies.

The MN5G programme aims to effectively and efficiently exploit the potential of 5G and beyond technologies for military applications. The project focuses on interoperability, the implementation of critical 5G features, spectrum, security architectures and other enabling elements required for multinational application.

NCIA, as NATO’s technology and cyber hub, strengthens the Alliance’s ability to respond to emerging challenges by providing cutting-edge technology and innovation, and championing NATO's digital transformation. These efforts, led by NCIA's Chief Technology Office, focus on modernizing NATO's digital backbone to enable multi-domain operations, and maximizing data value and exploitation within the Alliance to achieve cognitive and decision superiority.