AFCEA TechNet Europe 2010 Symposium and Exposition was organized as a joint event of AFCEA Europe and AFCEA Türkiye Chapter and held on 27 May 2010 at the Turkish Military Museum and Cultural Complex, Harbiye, ?stanbul, Türkiye
Under the framework of the above goal, the purpose of this AFCEA symposium is to examine the approaches that nations and industry are taking to balance the opportunities of the speed and accessibility of network–enabled capabilities whilst managing the security implications that such technologies present.
This symposium was supported by the Turkish General Staff (TGS), Ministry of National Defence (MoND), Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM), Turkish Armed Forces Foundation (TSKGV) and Defence Industry Manufacturers Association (SaSaD).
ASELSAN as Platinum sponsor, Lockheed Martin, Inmarsat and CISCO as gold sponsors and Nokia Siemens Networks as silver sponsor participated in the event. Aselsan, APC by Schneider Electric, Dell Inc., Deloitte Consulting, Inmarsat, Lockheed Martin Global Inc., Nokia Siemens Networks, Siltec Ltd., TrustAlert and TÜB?TAK exhibited their systems and products.
Almost 150 people from Türkiye and Foreign countries, such as Armed Forces, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Undersecretariat for Defence Industries, Universities, Scientific and the other government, defence industry and IT organizations, attended to this event. Asistant Chief of TGS for Communications, Electronics and Information Systems (CEIS) Department, Undersecretary for Defence Industries of MoND, Chief of Research and Project Development (APGE) and Scientific Decision Support (B?LKARDES) Division of Turkish Naval Forces Command (TUN), Chief of Information Systems (IS) Division of TGS, Chief of CEIS Division of SSM together with generals, admirals and officers from NATO and foreign armed forces were present.
Opening remarks was made by Cdre. Robert Howell, UKN, General Manager of AFCEA Europe.
After that Mr. Murad Bayar, Undersecretary for Defence Industries of MoND made welcome speech as a keynote speaker by presenting Turkish perspective about the theme of the event.
In his speech he stressed that this symposium focusing on the challenges of developing network–enabled capabilities while managing security implications will serve AFCEA’s mission of increasing knowledge in information technology and communications. “In managing defense procurement programs, interoperability with NATO and other allies is a key criterion. While simply purchasing other countries’ equipment would provide interoperability, that equipment mightnot suit Turkish Armed Forces’ unique military requirements. Consequently, SSM turns to Turkish defense industry to provide it withcustomized solutions with state of the art technologies.” he said.

He adressed that Network Enabled Capability (NEC) came to be the basic concept in modernization of today’s armed forces as a consequence of the information age and he added “To meet
the requirements of Turkish Armed Forces related with interoperability
and NEC, SSM is executing important projects, such as RADAR
Network, Air Defense Radio Network, Link 16 Interoperability, Link 16
Terminal Procurement, Tactical Data Link Operation Center projects.
The concept of NEC is being studied in Turkey across the breadth of
professional activities, including academia, industry, government and
defense research. SSM has sponsored the first NEC Feasibility Study
Report, prepared by experts from STM (Defense Technologies &
Engineering Co.), faculty members from METU (Middle East Technical
University), Prof. Dr. Erol GELENBE from Imperial College, UK and with
the contribution of the Turkish General Staff.” He mentioned.

He underlined that NEC Feasibility Study report includesNational NEC, concept,Similar NEC feasibility studies, operational scenarios, technical design principles for the national NEC, models for the national maturity level, the evaluation method of the compatibility, Turkish Armed Forces’ existing NEC infrastructure and National industry capabilities and recommendations for the strategic road map. He also informed that Realizing the critical priority of the topic, SSM organized the “Cyber
Warfare” conference last December in Ankara to discuss the threats
faced in cyberspace. As a result of this conference, strategies for information assurance on Develop information assurance policies,Initiate Cyber Defense projects,Develop secure Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) approach solutions,Develop new generation crypto devices have been taken.



Then, Lieutenant General Pietro Finocchio, ITAF (Ret.), President of the AFCEA Rome Chapter, Brigadier General Dr. Murat Üçüncü, TUA, Chief of IS Division of TGS and Mr.Mete Arslan, Chief of CEIS Division of SSM were also keynote speakers.