We have a long legacy in CIS and C4ISR education and training.
The NATO Communications and Information Systems School (NCISS) in Latina, Italy, served the Alliance for 60 years. However, when a political decision resulted in the relocation of NCISS to Portugal, we took it as an opportunity to reimagine how we train.
We streamlined our approach to training and merged four NCI Agency schools and training facilities to form a unified entity: the NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Academy.
The new NCI Academy commenced operations in September 2019 at its state-of-the-art Agency facility in Oeiras, Portugal. The Oeiras campus provides a flexible learning space adaptable to any teaching plan including remote learning, giving civilian and military staff from across the Alliance the opportunity to advance their skills.
The NCI Academy is accountable for the provision of Education and Training (E&T) Services to NATO and the Nations. It delivers individual and collective training on NATO Communications and Information Systems, including AirC2, support to the Military Training and Exercise Programme and assistance to NATO and National Commands preparing for NATO operations. The Academy also provides E&T services for Agency staff in support of professional and personal development, as well as mission (post)-specific requirements to ensure that the Agency continues to meet customer needs.
An evolution from the static classroom, our "smart training" approach is flexible, agile and adaptive. By exploiting the latest technologies, tools and techniques – such as e- and micro learning, virtual classrooms and augmented reality – the NCI Academy can deliver education and training whenever, wherever required.
The formation of the NCI Academy provides NATO with a world-class training capability to maintain its technological edge. Our students will go on to protect and defend the Alliance's IT and communications systems within the air, land, maritime and cyber domains. We have also set a challenge for ourselves to train 10,000 cyber defenders for the Alliance, in only five years.
In total, the NCI Academy comprises around one hundred professional staff based in Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway.