The 15th NATO Operations Research and Analysis Conference Kicked Off Virtually

15th annual NATO Operations Research & Analysis Conference (NORAC)

The 15th annual NATO Operations Research & Analysis Conference (NORAC) - co-sponsored by NATO Headquarters Supreme Allied Command Transformation (HQ SACT) and the NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO) - kicked off on 18 October 2021. With the continued travel and gathering restrictions due to the global pandemic, the Programme Committee was forced to conduct this year’s conference again virtually with a conference theme of ‘Decision Advantage in The Information Age’. During the 3-day conference, participants and presenters will discuss several topics around the streams of Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning, Decision Analysis, Strategic Analysis, Big Data / Advanced Analytics, OR&A Methods, Modelling & Simulation, and finally Wargaming and Operations Assessment. On day 3, OR-related training will be provided on Continuous Learning and Delivering with Scrum Beyond Software by Paradalia, and on Data Science and Machine Learning by Brandbastion.

The conference was opened by Dr. Bryan WELLS, NATO Chief Scientist, STO. He virtually welcomed over 200 delegates who represent NATO Nations and Partnership for Peace Nations, as well as STO’s Enhanced Opportunity Partners (Australia, Finland, Japan and Sweden). In his opening remarks, the NATO Chief Scientist stressed the critical role of the NATO S&T and innovation community, and in particular its evidence-based methods and creativity, in helping to support Alliance decision making. In his remarks, he also acknowledged that although the conference this year is in a virtual format due to the pandemic, this has also allowed the conference to reach a wider audience and include a greater diversity of presentations. 

Dr. Natalie M. SCALA, Associate Professor and Director of the graduate programs in supply chain management in the College of Business and Economics at Towson University

Dr. Natalie M. SCALA, associate professor and director of the graduate programs in supply chain management in the College of Business and Economics at Towson University, provided the keynote speech on day 1. Her primary research is in decision analysis, with foci on military applications and cybersecurity. Specific projects include army unit readiness, risk in voting systems, cybersecurity metrics and best practices, naval sea basing, nuclear power plants, and workforce planning. Her presentation was built on her research work in elections security that earned a University System of Maryland Board of Regents Award for Excellence in Public Service, the system’s highest faculty honor.

Day 2 of the conference was opened by BGEN Poul PRIMDAHL, ACT Assistant Chief of Staff Requirements, followed by the keynote speaker Mr. Hagai ROSSMAN of the Weizmann Institute of Science. His address focused on the collection and analysis of critical data related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: daily symptom surveys, construction of hospitalization and mortality models and real-time assessment of vaccine effectiveness at the national level- working closely with government and health policy makers in Israel. 

As part of the continuous development of the NATO OR&A Community of Interest, the event builds on previous conferences and workshops, bringing together the analysis community from NATO commands and agencies, national defense analysis and research organizations, Centres of Excellence, academia, and industry. A wide range of topics related to examples and technical developments will be discussed over these two days but this conference is just the beginning of long-lasting OR&A community collaboration and progress.

Published by SAS

19/10/2021