This Friday, March 15, marks the inauguration of the €6.2 million NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence’s new building in Tallinn. The center provides facilities needed for the day-to-day work of cyber experts from almost 40 nations.
“The fact that the NATO CCDCOE is the only center of excellence that includes all NATO member states, as well as partners from around the world, clearly demonstrates its significance and breadth of scope,” said Kusti Salm, permanent secretary at the Estonian Ministry of Defense.
“In addition to the kinetic dimension, the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine also has a cyber dimension, which has led states with shared values to increasingly appreciate the power of sharing knowledge and information. I am happy to see that from now on developments in cyber security will have a worthy space in which to grow,” Salm added.
The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE) was established in 2008 and provides insights into developments within the cyber realm to both NATO and its member nations.
Its members include 32 NATO member states and seven non-NATO countries, such as Ukraine, Japan, and Korea. Estonia is actively supporting the accession processes of Albania, North Macedonia, and Australia.
Dr. Mart Noorma, director of NATO CCDCOE said the need for collaboration is more important than ever.
“Increased geopolitical tensions and the wider availability of new technologies have made cyber attacks much more complex in nature and also significantly more targeted,” he said. “As a result, the necessity for international collaboration with our Allies and partners has become ever more critical.”
Among the center’s key projects are Locked Shields, the largest and most intricate live-fire cyber resilience exercise in the world; the Tallinn Manual, a guide on the application of international law to cyber operations; the CyCon conference, in which the world’s foremost cyber specialists gather annually in Tallinn; and Crossed Swords, a technical cyber exercise with an offensive focus.
Ando Voogma, the North and North-eastern Portfolio Manager at the Estonian Centre for Defense Investments, said: “We are immensely proud to have played a part in bolstering global cyber security and awareness through establishing an apt and modern setting for NATO’s flagship center.”
Voogma also praised the collaborative efforts of both the building contractor and the center’s end-users, in reaffirming their ongoing support for the premises’ upkeep.
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