A preview of ITEC 2019

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ITEC 2019 will take place in Stockholm, Sweden from 14 to 16 May 2019. Since 1999, Sweden has been leading the VIKING series of exercises alongside participants from the UN, EU, civilian authorities, police, military and representatives from humanitarian organisations. VIKING is a practical extension of efforts to improve mission readiness in a time- and resource-effective manner. It also builds on work already undertaken by NATO to better connect joint forces across nations, working to overcome cultural barriers and thus highlight collaboration operations.

The core purpose of the event is to providethe perfect platform for international companies involved in military trainingand education to meet end users, industry influencers, government decisionmakers, and leading military minds.

“Interoperable by design: connecting people,technology, and nations”

People are at the heart of what ITEC isabout. Our key objective is to empower those who serve their nations in joint,combined, and distributed contexts. The 2019 conference focuses on ways inwhich members from research, industry and operations work together to enhanceinternational collaboration by stepping outside our siloed comfort zones toconnect people, technology and nations. It facilitates discussion for thoseengaged in the most testing environments – in the military and civil sectors –to explore the significant technological developments that impact training andeducation of current and future generations.

Sessions at ITEC 2019 will look at the useof novel educational models to better prepare people for joint training,equitable and diverse methods of training delivery and culturally-awareevaluation for defence forces. Ensuring that joint training and interculturaleducation are accessible to the training audience, honouring culturalidentities and preventing stereotypes or assumptions from becoming barriers tointeroperability are key challenges addressed by ITEC 2019.

Top speakers from last year’s conferenceincluded:

1. Group Captain Thomas Bennington, Project Officer Ideation andTransition, European Defence Agency
2. Elizabeth Bledsoe, Cyber Programs Division Chief, Assistant Secretaryof the Army Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, (ASA/ASALT)
3. Brigadier General William E. Cole, Program Executive Officer forSimulation, Training and Instrumentation, United States Army
4. Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Conway, Commanding Officer Army KnowledgeGroup, Australian Army
5. Dr. Mustafa Dinc, Senior Modelling & Simulation Expert, MiddleEast Technical University
6. Lieutenant Lukasz Kacprowicz, Master, Szczytno Police Academy
7. Dr. Gregory Kratzig, Director Research and Strategic Partnerships,Royal Canadian Mounted Police
8. Thomas Lasch, Chief, M&S Division, Joint Multinational SimulationCenter, US Army Europe
9. Martin Thomsen, Head, Danish Disaster Management College
10. Major Dennis Zijp, Head ofResearch and Development Office, Royal Netherlands Army

The ITEC 2019 Conference will emphasise theimportance of more effective use of available technology whilst alsoanticipating future disruptive technologies that will impact the role of humanfactors in technology-mediated environments. It covers three primary areas:

HUMAN FACTORS AND PERFORMANCE IN A CONNECTED AGE

Thistrack considers the core human, social, cultural and behavioural challengesinvolved in smooth cooperation. Intercultural understanding and communications– not just within military operations, but also between first responder and lawenforcement communities – are vital to ensuring a successful outcome. Howshould joint exercises best be planned to develop a top level ofinteroperability? There are questions around human-machine collaboration andteaming to be factored in, as well as effective evaluation of humandecision-making and performance. New ways of designing interoperability into asocio-technical system that motivates intercultural collaboration is a key areaof interest.

TECHNOLOGIES AND ARCHITECTURES

Thistrack explores technical developments advancing the use of collaborative,cooperative or innovative processes around training. It will assess the prosand cons of blended live, virtual and constructive simulations, looking at theapplication of cyber-physical security training systems. The increase ofcomputer-generated players that are culturally aware adds an additional elementof complexity, as do simulation models derived from OSI and Big Data inputs.Can this increased interoperability of human and technological factors lead topredictive simulations that accurately measure command competence?

TODAY’S CHALLENGES, TOMORROW’S NEEDS, EMERGING SOLUTIONS

Thistrack assesses the future landscape of the aerospace and defence industry, andhow that will impact training needs going forwards. This includes advances inlarge-scale, distributed collaborative training and the use of simulation indeveloping new SOPs. The application of new technology such as AR and VR to high-riskor high-security training environments – and the use of serious games andtransmedia platforms – brings a new set of design questions. How can immersionand realism in simulation training best be enhanced, for example? What mediawork best for individual patient level training, versus mass casualtymanagement in civil, military and joint contexts?

The key challenge of how legacy, new and emerging technologies can be made interoperable, not only between militaries but between all agencies that work in high demand situations, is central to these discussions. Nations may have unique imperatives, as well as those they share with others when considering both national defence and civil protection. These imperatives are driven by external and internal factors such as population, geography, climate, resources and the choices made by each society in response to both their national and international environment. The current international situation is causing many nations to re-evaluate their choices, and to re-examine the models they have adopted for their military and civil forces. Sweden’s Defence Policy 2016-2020 makes clear the choices ITEC 2019’s host nation has considered and is taking forward.

The need for training outside battlefields is ever-increasing. We must teach control over high-pressure situations in a removed and safe environment, with the most appropriate technology and methods available. The many challenges and requirements involved drive the community to seek innovative and pre-emptive solutions. Over the last 30 years, ITEC has been dedicated to providing the platform for such essential discussions, and looks forward to doin