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18 Jun 14. NATO approves new military cyber warfare training centre in Estonia. Estonian Defence Forces Commander Major General Riho Terras announced on 11 June that the country’s bid to create a NATO military cyber training centre has been approved by NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, General Jean Paul Paloméros. The announcement came following discussions between the two generals at Allied Command Transformation (ACT) Headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. “We have received confirmation that the proposal to create a cyber training centre in Tallinn is approved by the commander and preparations have already entered their active phase,” state media reported Maj Gen Terras as saying. “NATO is allocating funding to the project for the construction of infrastructure,” he explained. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
23 Jun 14. AirTanker, which operates and maintains the key Voyager contract for the Ministry of Defence, has signed an agreement to use Vistair Systems’ cloud-based e-manuals solution, DocuNet. In addition AirTanker, based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, will also use Vistair’s crew communications portal, CrewNet. The consortium, made up of leading aerospace and defence sector suppliers Airbus Group, Rolls-Royce, Thales, Babcock and Cobham, is responsible for delivering, maintaining and supporting Voyager, the RAF’s new-generation multi-role tanker transport aircraft, from crew training to dispatch. Its remit includes air-to-air refuelling, air transport and aeromedical evacuation capability, plus associated services and infrastructure for the RAF’s core fleet of nine Voyager A330 aircraft. AirTanker also provides operational and planning control, aircraft maintenance and dispatch, full flight crew training plus maintenance of a two-bay purpose built hangar and operational centre. Vistair’s DocuNet document management system and CrewNet communications portal are used by airlines around the world, providing AirTanker with reassurance that the robust systems are both best-in-class and proven operationally. Ian Herbert, CEO and founder of Vistair, said: “Whilst the onset of new digital technology has completely transformed document management within the global aviation industry, many of the solutions on the market are, sadly, not fit for purpose. “Over many years and in close collaboration with airlines themselves we have developed a suite of bespoke solutions for flight operations management that are not only robust, but also leading-edge, ensuring our clients stay ahead of the technological curve.”
24 Jun 14. In the spirit of innovation, and as part of a revolution fomented among the workforce by Director Letitia Long, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is unbolting its doors to expand industry partnerships and slash the time it takes to acquire critical capabilities. Participants in the Small Business Interaction panel at the June 19, 2014, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency-AFCEA Industry Day were Sandra Broadnax, Small Business Program Office director, David Burns, component acquisition executive, Tonya Crawford, senior procurement executive and Doug McGovern, director of InnoVision. The event was held at NGA’s Springfield, Va., campus. GSM operates as an online exchange for government and vendors, commercial partners, academic institutions and the broader geospatial intelligence community. Industry capabilities available today include tools that would be useful for what the intelligence community calls activity-based intelligence and object-based production, and a range of collection capabilities, Hayes-Ryan said. Activity-based intelligence involves gathering the broadest possible collection of data and digitally tagging each item for future searches of tags, rather than of data. She called the activity-based-intelligence technique a great source of intel