Georgia takes another step towards NATO interoperability – NATO HQ

On 8 June 2022, the Defence Institution Building School - one of the flagship initiatives of the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package - achieved a major milestone, as it was certified as a NATO accredited Education and Training Facility for a period of six years, by the Allied Command Transformation.

This status will facilitate even broader participation in the Schools high-quality training and education courses by attendants coming from Allied and partner countries. The first one of these courses is the Basic Strategic Communications Course, certified by NATO in spring 2020. With this accreditation, Georgia has taken another important step towards meeting NATO interoperability standards. NATO defines interoperability as the ability to act together coherently, effectively and efficiently to achieve Allied objectives. It is the foundation of all NATO operations and a cornerstone of the Alliance. For Mrs. Tea Nikolashvili, the schools Director, the concept of Georgia-NATO interoperability now extends beyond war rooms and battlefields to her classrooms. For it is in these classrooms where Georgian and foreign defence and security sector professionals interact on a range of training and capacity building efforts aimed at benefitting Georgias and euro-atlantic security.

The Defence Institution Building School was founded in 2016 and serves as a flagship initiative under the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package, which aims to strengthen Georgias ability to defend itself and advance in its preparations for NATO membership. The school offers professional development programmes and instructions on issues including amongst others - Black Sea security, good governance and parliamentary oversight over armed forces, as well as hybrid warfare, countering disinformation, and women peace and security, mirroring the Allies standards of defence transformation in its learning and development procedures. Since the inauguration of the Schools activities, the Clingendael Institute has partnered with the school by providing professional consultancy and equipment support funded through NATOs Defence and Security Related Capacity Building Trust Fund. An embedded NATO advisory team, led by Germany and supported by Slovakia, also supports the schools mission.

As a true mark of the schools professionalism and ability to address gaps in training requirements, its administrators are working closely with the NATOs Building Integrity (BI) Initiative to develop other NATO Certified courses designed to enhance good governance within Georgias armed forces. The Defence Institution Building School aims to become a regional centre of knowledge in the wider black sea security context and to act as a platform to support NATO and EU policy implementation through learning and development activities.

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Georgia takes another step towards NATO interoperability - NATO HQ