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IABG-led cooperation strengthens European security research

The companies IABG (D), TNO (NL), FOI (F) and QINETIQ (GB) have agreed to cooperate in the area of European security and defence analysis. The foundation of the “European Security and Defence Analysis Group” (ESDAG) is intended to allow the coordination of national contributions thereby improving European security research.

In early 2000, the leading European technology and science service provider Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft (IABG) based in Ottobrunn near Munich started to bring together leading European defence analysis organisations to form a working group called the <link http: www.esdag.org external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>"European Security and Defence Analysis Group” (ESDAG). The collaboration, which was originally an informal cooperation, was then set out in a “Teaming Agreement” which allowed the Group a higher degree of credibility for their market launch.

The ESDAG is a manufacturer-independent and product-neutral analysis and research network. Its work is intended make a substantial contribution to European security research (ESR) and thus also to future European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), which, like the Commission’s programmes, will be dependent on external research support. At the start of the third millennium, ESDP stands on the threshold of a new era that brings with it completely new challenges, which will require a high level of support. For this reason the European Commission has taken a first step in the direction of strengthening industrial potential in Europe with the implementation of “security research” as a preparatory action. An EU programme intended to promote European security through research and technology has also been conceived, as well as the foundation of a new European Defence Agency (EDA). High-priority issues include the optimisation of threat analysis and the protection of network systems, anti-terrorism protection, the improvement of crisis management and the interoperability of information and communication systems.

Representatives of the founding members are convinced that they are willing and able to make a decisive contribution to this. But they also recognize that the necessary degree of efficiency can only be achieved if national activities are harmonised, thereby allowing the various strengths of different companies to work together symbiotically, leading to synergies that support an integrative EU policy. ESDAG members are therefore going to apply for EU contracts concertedly as a unit. The companies involved consider their main tasks to include the provision of a product-neutral advisory service to the European Commission, their committees for strategic political and operational analysis, concept development, and technical evaluation.

ESDAG is open to other European organisations with a comparable capacity for product-neutral and long-term analysis and experimentation. Thus the French DGA-CHEAr (French Defence Agency, Centre des Hautes Etudes de l’Armement), for instance, will be taking part in the ESDAG initiative. Further associated membership is expected from among the latest countries to accede to the EU. The networked cooperation will be directed by a steering group; IABG is in charge of operative management. An ESDAG project and a further project with ESDAG involvement have already been commissioned by the European Union within the framework of Preparatory Action on Security Research (PASR). The projects in question are <link http: vita.iabg.eu external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>VITA, an experiment and simulation regarding the vulnerability of the electricity supply in Spain, and the project SeNTRE to formulate a strategy for EU security research.