CZECH AMBASSADOR VISIT

H.E. Mr. Ivan Jančárek, the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Spain, visited the C-IED COE, Hoyo de Manzanares, Madrid, on 5th February 2019. He was officially invited by the Director of the C-IED COE after the Ambassador had showed his interest through Major Jan Albrecht, the Czech Senior National Representative (SNR). The main objective was to present the C-IED COE to the new Czech Ambassador who was welcomed by the Director and all Senior National Representatives of the Sponsoring Nations as a tradition of similar visits. Firstly, the COE director briefed about the main aim and task of the centre and explained to the Ambassador the actual NATO’s C-IED concept and the importance of the C-IED COE’s mission. The presentation was followed by the signing of the C-IED COE’s Book of Honor. Secondly, the premises and the laboratory were presented during a guided tour and the Ambassador was fascinated by the variety of the different types of IEDs widely used across the world. During the lunch, both parties opened less official conversation and have established a good relationship for the future. H.E. Mr. Ivan Jančárek stated several times that he was very satisfied with the visit and also was impressed by the importance of the C-IED COE and its contribution to the fight against global threats.

NATO and UNMAS Staff Talks

The C-IED COE participated in the NATO and United Nations Staff Talks at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on the 13th of February 2019. The two groups discussed cooperation on five main topics. 1. Cooperation between NATO with regards to the UN IED Threat Mitigation Team of Experts (ToE). 2. The UN UNMAS IED Threat Mitigation Technology Roadmap. 3. Cooperation between NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO) on new technologies and scientific research. 4. The MILENG Route Clearance E-learning project. 5. The C-IED COE Common C-IED Training Model (CCTM). The outcome of the meeting resulted in continued support, efforts and discussions on the future relationship between NATO and the United Nations and how best to support each other with regards to the five main topics, and with three specific items as it relates to the CIED COE. The United Nations has informally requested the CIED COE conduct a Research Project on Magnetically Attached IEDs, the continued support of the UN lectures and their addition into the Common C-IED Training Model, and a proposal from ESCD to incorporate them into the CIED Technology Workshop. However, additional discussions and coordination is required to determine the specific details and requirements for each of the topics.

ANNUAL MEETING FOR NATO COE CIS 2019

The second annual meeting for NATO COE CIS Specialist & Security Officers took place in the Italian city of Vicenza from last 12th February to 14th February. Personnel coming from eighteen COEs, participated in the two-day meeting were, among others, many aspects about NATO Security policies and procedures, and Cyber Defence were treated to get a common understanding between HQ SACT and COEs. Two C-IED COE members attended to this meeting.

ENTRAP WS

A research project funded by the European Commission under Horizon 2020 program has held its 2nd Annual Workshop on 20th- 21th February 2019 in St. Albans City (UK). The project is called Enhanced Neutralization of explosive Threats Reaching Across the Plot (ENTRAP). The ENTRAP consortium is formed by 16 participants (Law enforcement, governmental bodies, security agencies, academia, research laboratories) and is coordinated by the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI). The consortium includes 11 practitioners in counterterrorism, mainly supported by an advisory board of key entities whereof 18 Letter of Supports have been obtained. The C-IED COE is one of entities supporting this project. The 2nd Annual Workshop has been attended by 40 members from participant organizations and supporting entities (C-IED COE, INTERPOL, EU Ministries of Interior, FOI, TNO,..) forming the Stakeholders and Practitioners advisory Board (SPB) of the ENTRAP project. This Workshop has allowed validating works made by 11 ENTRAP working groups during last year. A broad structure called “Capability Hierarchy” has been created across all the plot timeline in 4 levels and regarding four main top capabilities: PREVENT, DETECT, REACT and MITIGATE (1st level). Each big capability has been split in 4 or 5 sub-capabilities (2nd level), these sub-capabilities in several dependent functions (3rd level) and finally, some counter terrorism (CT) tools (4th level) have been allocated for each function that could help to fulfill with CT ranging from intelligence, policing, legalization, financing, technology and forensics. Some CT tools as intelligence and Training and Education are overarching capabilities and other (as biometrics) can be applied to fulfill different functions (before or after attack) across the plot. It is a complex structure and more than 400 CT tools and European research projects on security have been analyzed during last year in order to populate this Capability Hierarchy using several scientist and operational research methods.