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NCI Agency Completes Multi-Year Civil Emergencies Project with Balkan Nations

Four Countries Implement Incident Command System

The NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency has completed a five-year programme of engagement with four Balkan countries during which a new command system was established to assist nations in managing and responding to civil emergencies.

The Advanced Regional Civil Emergency Co-ordination Pilot (ARCECP) programme formed part of NATO’s Science for Peace and Security (SPS) initiative, and involved entities from the United States as well as the Alliance. The project began in 2017 and concluded in March, with participation from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

Each nation received an iteration of the new Next-Generation Incident Command System and had it configured to suit its individual requirements. The open-source platform was developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory in collaboration with the US Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate and the US Coast Guard. The NCI Agency ran the project, providing technical and subject-matter expertise and managing the acquisition of equipment.

The project is a good example of how NATO can contribute to helping member and partner countries respond to emergencies,” said the Agency’s project manager, Filip Hostiuc. “The NCI Agency supported the implementation of an effective open-source solution for civil emergencies in the Western Balkans to enhance national and regional capabilities.”

As a result of the project, Croatia was able to use the system when responding to an earthquake in December 2020; Bosnia & Herzegovina hosted the first NATO international exercise to highlight the system; Montenegro became the first nation to use it on a national exercise; and North Macedonia adopted the system for national use in 2019.

The SPS programme supports practical cooperation between NATO member and partner countries on security-related civil science and innovation, and this project is a perfect example of why we do this,” said Dr Eyup Turmus, programme manager. “It has contributed to enhancing countries’ capacity to respond to civil emergencies and built a robust community of experts, including scientists and engineers, who worked together to share knowledge and collectively improve this system.”

Hostiuc and Turmus have co-authored a book about the project Enhancing Capabilities for Crisis Management and Disaster Response, published by Springer Nature.

The five-year project included a number of exercises as well as weekly meetings between participants to help hone and develop the system. (NCI Agency)

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Publish date

05/12/2022

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