On Wednesday, the head of the Ministry of National Defence opened the annual "NATO Information and Communication Conference" with the participation of nearly 400 experts representing NATO headquarters, member countries of the Alliance and partner countries. This year, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Poland's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance, the conference is taking place in Warsaw.

- Your presence in Poland at such a prestigious conference is a distinction for our country, which has been an integral part of the most effective defence alliance in history for 20 years. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Poland's membership in NATO, we feel the burden of responsibility, but also great satisfaction that We Are NATO and we are Stronger Together. We experience this real joint force in training grounds during allied exercises. But now the time has come to intensify activities on a new battlefield - the information environment - reminded the head of the Ministry of National Defence.

The conference takes place under the motto "Communication in NATO on the 70th anniversary of its creation: Unity of message and message of unity".

Conference participants take part in workshops, workgroups and plenary sessions on strategic communication of the alliance. Gathered experts will discuss, among others challenges and threats arising from the modern information environment, the role of communication in the process of global information creation and transfer.

- We come from different regions of the Alliance and we see different threats to our own sovereignty. It is only when we look at them from a broader perspective, our mutual and universal threats become clearly visible.  (...) Now we must invest in mutual understanding and efficient exchange of information. Our collective response to the emerging threats will rely on that in future - said the minister and proposed a specific solution:

According to the minister, an efficient model is needed - both in national and allied terms - allowing for a quick exchange of analyzes, information about emerging incidents in the information space and the ability to react properly.

- eFP is an example worth drawing from. Mission, which success depends on the quick and effective flow of information, has developed a mechanism in which each link in chain is informed about the incident at the same time. This contextual awareness grants us an advantage - allows drawing the right conclusions and taking quick actions - noted Minister Mariusz Błaszczak summarizing his position.

 

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NATO Strategic Communication experts meet every year, conferences are organized alternately by NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and NATO Allied Command Operations (ACO). The main topics of the conference are challenges and threats arising from the modern information environment and the role of strategic communication in the process of global information creation and transfer.