• DATE: Thu 17 October 2024
• VENUE: PVA EXPO PRAGUE - Conference Room 1, Entrance Hall 2
• OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: English
• CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
• REGISTER ONLINE

FUTURE COMMAND AND CONTROL CONFERENCE 2024

/Future Warfighting Concepts; Command & Control in a New Era/

Dear colleagues,

we would like to introduce the Future Command and Control (C2) Conference 2024 and welcome you to this event.

In recent years, the term "multi-domain integration" has been increasingly used in discussions about armed forces and their capabilities. In this context, questions relating to command and control (C2), including synchronisation with non-military actors, have come to the fore. There is a certain ambiguity in the responses, which only serves to highlight the often unrecognised importance of C2 to current and future concepts of warfare and crisis management, and its success in the new era.

This importance was underlined by SACEUR, who said that "... C2 is one of the most urgent challenges within the Alliance...". This is primarily due to the exponential growth in the amount of data available, the speed of information transfer, the exponential increase in the quality of technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, unmanned vehicles and others, the digitisation of the environment and the overal complexity of multi-domain operations.

This trend is confirmed by the experiences of recent and ongoing conflicts, which need to be analysed, considered in contex and the conclusions put into practice as soon as possible. This is not just about the military environment; the consistent interplay between political, military and civilian capabilities is becoming increasingly important. Co-operation between military commanders and non-military partners is often a critical success factor in resolving a crisis or conflict.

The aim is to provide new, comprehensive perspectives, possible solutions and lessons learned in this area and to facilitate a broad discussion among participants.

The Future C2 conference will build on the content of the main FFF 2024 conference (16 October 2024).

Jiří BALOUN, LtGen (ret.)
Former Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Afghanistan

DISCUSSION AND INSIGHTS:

• The implications of multi-domain integration/operations for C2
• Building C2 in the Armed Forces within the NATO framework
• Critical factors and how to meet requirements

MAIN BLOCKS:

• How will the Future Security Environment (probably) look like
• The implications of multi-domain integration/operations for C2
• Changing principles of warfare or just changing ways of fighting
• The role of C2 in the future battlefield
• Future C2 requirements, approach taken to build C2 capabilities
• The role of EDT´s

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME:

9.30 - 9.50

• Opening remarks (moderator)
• Welcome words (BG Petr ŠNAJDÁREK)
• Introduction of speakers (moderator)

9.50 - 10.20

• Command and Control in a New Era (keynote speech)
• RADM Nicholas WHEELER (Director, NATO Digital Staff)

10.20 - 11.30

FUTURE C2 – Panel #1:
Command and Control in a New Era /OPERATIONAL VIEW/ (panelists, Q+A)
RADM Nicholas WHEELER (Director, NATO Digital Staff)
BG Petr ŠNAJDÁREK (Director, CIS Division, CZ MoD/Armed Forces)
BG Václav ŽID (Deputy Director, CZ MI: data, information, cyber domain, space domain)
COL Michael FRAAS (Head, Strategy Branch, Cyber and Information Domain HQ, BW: digisation project)

• Building C2 in the Armed Forces/ Czech Armed Forces within the NATO framework
• Changes in the design of the C2 system
• Integration of capabilities
• Timely data and information critical to combat superiority
• Digitisation of the battlefield: experience from the digitisation process in the Armed Forces - operational view

11.30 - 11.40

• Coffee break

11.40 - 12.45

FUTURE C2 – Panel #2:
Command and Control in a New Era /TO MEET REQUIREMENTS – technological/industrial view/ (panelists, Q+A)
Mr. Andrey OBOLENSKY (Head of Business Development, Rohde-Schwarz: digisation project)
COL Petr HLAVIZNA, Ph.D. (Head, Department of Intelligence Support, University of Defence, CZ: electromagnetic environment)
Mr. Miroslav NEČAS, Ph.D. (Head of International Sales, TOVEK, CZ: data, artificial intelligence)
Mr. Martin MESRŠMÍD (Director, Digital Information Agency, CZ: digisation process)
Mr. Tomáš MÜLLER (President, AFCEA Czech Chapter: cooperation in the field of command and control)

• Digitisation process in the Armed Forces: contractor/industry view
• The impact of the electromagnetic environment
• The role of emerging technologies (EDTs)
• AI/ML and the human factor
• Linking military-civilian digitisation processes and the need to orchestrate efforts within the crisis management system
• Critical role of industry in general

12.45 - 12.50

• Closing remarks (moderator)