Institutional links

Command Centre

• Navy
• Army
• Air Force
• Military Personnel
• Canada Command
• CANSOFCOM
• CANOSCOM
• CEFCOM

Menu

• About DND/CF
• Commander-in-Chief
• The Minister
• Policy
• News Room
  • Statements
  • Media Advisories
  • News Releases
  • Backgrounders
  • Transcripts
  • Speeches
  • Minister's Speeches
  • Minister's Speeches Archive
  • Key Documents
  • Military News
  • Archives
• Operations
• The Maple Leaf
• Image Gallery
• Write to the Troops
• History and Heritage
• Human Resources
• DND/CF Site Map
• Proactive Disclosure

Backgrounder

Network Enabled Operations: DND/CF Responding to the New Security Environment

BG–04.042 - November 29, 2004

The Department of National Defence will host an international symposium on Network Enabled Operations (NEOps) in Ottawa, November 30 to December 1, 2004. The Honourable Keith Martin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, will open the event and will be joined by Canadian Forces Chief of the Defence Staff, General Ray Henault. Vice-Admiral Greg Maddison, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff; Vice-Admiral Ron Buck, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff; and Dr. John Leggat, Assistant Deputy Minister (Science and Technology), will host the event.

NEOps is recognized as the cornerstone of armed forces transformation around the world. It is know as Network Enabled Capabilities (NEC) in NATO and the UK, Network Centric Warfare (NCW) in the U.S. and Australia, and Network Centric Operations (NCO) elsewhere.

This symposium is an opportunity for National Defence and the Canadian Forces to consult with academic and industry experts, and representatives from Allied countries, as well as members of other government departments and agencies. Researching and developing NEOps will help the Canadian Forces remain interoperable with Allied forces, since many of them are also working on their respective applications. Participants will examine the implications of NEOps on the future of the Canadian Forces.

NEOps increases the effectiveness of an armed force by improving intelligence collection, analysis and information sharing between its various elements, including land, sea and air forces. Consequently, the implementation of NEOps is key to achieve shared awareness, increased speed of command, higher tempo of operations and increased security of our forces in the field.

In April 2004, Canada published a National Security Policy that recognizes individual security is enhanced by establishing a national management framework for security issues. The new policy also calls for an integrated national and international approach by Canada's security partners. A NEOps approach should be used for the integration of the intelligence, information and operational aspects of this national security partnership in order to achieve maximum effectiveness.

On December 2, 2004, a smaller number of invited attendees, from the Department of National Defence, the Canadian Forces, other government departments, academia and industry, will participate in a workshop to discuss the key areas of NEOps: effective engagement; command and sense; force generation; and support and sustain and mobility.

An official DND/CF Concept Paper, compiling the results of NEOps Symposium 2004, the workshop and further work by the NEOps Symposium Working Group, will be published in 2005.

-30-

For more information visit Defence R&D Canada's website at http://www.drdc-rddc.gc.ca/newsevents/events/neops_e.asp or contact Defence R&D Canada Communications at 613 992-2033.

For further information:

• Canada to Host International Symposium on Network Enabled Operations
  [ News Release - November 29, 2004 ]

RSS DND/CF News (What is RSS?)