SISO and NATO sign Technical Co-operation Agreement
Article by: Chris Rouget  (Chris.Rouget@vodafone.net) Agreement recognizes SISO as a Standards Development Organization for NATO August 28, 2007 It is signed! After some 20 months of discussions, negotiations, and coordination of organizational interests, representatives of NATO's Research & Technology Agency (RTA) and SISO's governing committees signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement (TCA) on July 24 in a ceremony held at NATO's RTA headquarters just outside Paris, France. Figure 1 Mr. Rick Severinghaus (l) and Dr. Greg Schneider (r) sign the Technical Co-operation Agreement Acting on behalf of their respective organizations, NATO's Dr. Greg Schneider, Director, RTA, and SISOs Rick Severinghaus, Chairman, SISO Executive Committee, signed the documents creating a standing agreement for co-operation in the development and use of M&S interoperability standards that benefit both NATO nations and the world-wide M&S community. In addition to the formal signing ceremony, Dr. Schneider hosted a series of informal briefings and discussion of the opportunities this new agreement represents. Other signatories to the agreement included, for NATO, Dr. Jean-Louis Igarza, Chair, NATO M&S Group (NMSG), and Mr. Paul Newman, Head, NATO M&S Coordination Office (MSCO), and for SISO, Mr. James (Mark) McCall, Chair, SISO Standards Activity Committee (SAC), and Mr. Ralph Weber, Chair, SISO Conference Committee. Figure 2 Mr. Chris Rouget and Dr. Jean-Louis Igarza celebrate signing of the TCA Discussions leading to the signing of the TCA originated about two years ago, led by Dr. Igarza, at the time a member of SISO's SAC as part of his work at NMSG, and Mr. Chris Rougęt, then Chair, SISO SAC. Working together and with their respective organizations, they addressed and resolved the many details necessary for establishing a solid foundation on which to base the Agreement. The end result is an Agreement under which both SISO and NATO can contribute to standards creation while meeting the needs of both organizations and upholding the principles by which each organization operates. Key to the success of the effort was the dedication of both Chris and Jean-Louis in working through many changes to the document throughout the course of numerous technical discussions and organizational reviews. Figure 3 Signing ceremony participants, from left to right, Dr. Jean-Louis Igarza, Mr. Chris Rouget, Dr. Greg Schneider, Mr. Rick Severinghaus, and Mr. Paul Newman With the signing of the agreement, all 26 NATO nations and 23 Partners for Peace Nations have the ability, via NMSG, to provide input and advice to SISO in its ongoing work to identify and implement interoperability standards serving the M&S community. In turn, the TCA provides the mechanism, again via NMSG and through SISO's Committees, by which SISO can both express its views and obtain the expertise and advice of the many NATO nations as it pursues investigation and development of potential standards. Under the terms of the agreement, technical co-operation and information exchange, access to published materials, handling of copyright issues, and processes for participation in activities are addressed, all in the spirit of advancing mutual interests in the domain of M&S interoperability. Of particular note is NMSGs standing as NATOs formal designation as the authority for the establishment of NATO M&S Standards Agreements (STANAGs). NMSG is additionally the agency, under the authority of the NATO Committee for Standardization (NCS), charged with initiating, co-coordinating, supporting, and administering all NATO standards. Asked about the impact of the TCA on SISO, Rick Severinghaus responded enthusiastically. "As a formal agreement with NATO, the TCA is very important to SISO's growth as an organization. In developing and maintaining DIS and HLA standards, SISO has had a long informal association with NATO, and many individuals of NATO and PfP nations have made valuable contributions to SISO. The new agreement, in a sense, simply formalizes long standing mutual cooperation, but far more importantly, in establishes processes by which SISO generated standards can be developed more quickly, and benefit from active interchange of ideas, concepts and technical data with NMSG and member NATO nations. I think it will also prove of great value in jump-starting development of new standards beyond the scope of SISO's traditional focus." He also indicated that, heading into the future, he expects increasing interchange and interaction among the SISO community and its Simulation Interoperability Workshops and the Panels (currently 6) and Task Groups chartered by NATO's Research and Technology Organization. "We (SISO) see this Agreement as a very good thing for the future of SISO."
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