Dr. Mart Noorma will take up his duties as the new Director of CCDCOE

Today was held a change of command ceremony where CCDCOE previous Director BG Jaak Tarien gave over his duties to the new Director Dr Mart Noorma.

Noorma, a PhD in Science in Technology, will begin her three-year term today. He has been actively engaged in NATO, EU, and international cooperation on innovation and novel technology development. He has been a member of the NATO Advisory Group on Emerging and Disruptive Technologies, the NATO STO Applied Vehicle Technology Panel, the EEAS Space Advisory Board, and the IEEE Autonomous Weapon Systems Expert Advisory Committee. Mart Noorma is a voluntary member of the Estonian Defence League.

Undersecretary for Defense Planning at the Ministry of Defense, Tiina Uudeberg pointed out:

“Last two years have been very challenging also for the Centre. Despite covid restrictions and other challenges on the way- you have succeeded in organizing your flagship - cyber exercises and conferences both online and in-person. As this year - CyCon was sold out and brought to Tallinn the highest ranking generals and experts from all around the world. To be exact- from 50 countries and 4 continents.”

Former Director BG Jaak Tarien has done an incredible job, added Undersecretary Uudeberg. BG Tarien has been CCDCOE Director since September 2018.

Christian-Marc Lifländer, Head, Cyber and Hybrid Policy at NATO said: „Looking at what this Centre, and this team in particular, has achieved I can confidently say that you have set the standard for excellence on cyber.“

The leaving Director handed over the flag of the Centre to the new Director and as a tradition and a symbol of the new era, they planted an oak tree together.

The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) is a NATO-accredited knowledge hub offering a unique interdisciplinary approach to the most relevant issues in cyber defence. The heart of the Centre is a diverse group of international experts from military, government, academia and industry, currently representing 35 nations. There are about 80 personnel from different member states working at the CCDCOE, both military and civilian.