What Motivates NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) to be a Partner of ICSSS?

As the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve, the need for strong collaboration between institutions, industry, and emerging talent is more critical than ever. The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) plays a vital role within this ecosystem and has been a long-standing partner of the International Cyber Security Summer School. Therefore, we sat down with a Senior Cybersecurity Specialist at NCIA, to discuss what initially motivated NCIA to become a partner of ICSSS.

Could you briefly introduce your organisation and your role?

I am a Senior Cybersecurity Specialist at the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA). NCIA is NATO’s technology and cyber hub, helping the Alliance communicate and work together to fulfil NATO’s mission of preserving peace and security for one billion citizens.

In my role, I help design and execute cyber-focused exercises that prepare NCIA experts and our operational partners for complex cyber crises. This involves creating realistic scenarios that test not just our technology, but also our decision-making processes under pressure. My role also includes taking what we learn from these exercises and translating these lessons into stronger and more resilient cyber defences for the Alliance.

What initially motivated you/your company to become a partner of ICSSS?

Our initial motivation came from seeing the cybersecurity ecosystem that Security Delta (HSD) has created. HSD successfully brings together government, academia, and industry to share their knowledge and collaborate on innovative security solutions. NCIA plays a similar role, bridging the gap between industry leaders and NATO’s technological requirements.

ICSSS is the perfect platform to engage with the next generation of cyber professionals and share the real-world challenges we face. The more individuals that pursue a career in cybersecurity, the more solutions and ideas we will develop in collaboration. This is especially important, in the face of the current increasingly contested cybersecurity landscape.

What do you believe makes ICSSS unique compared to other cybersecurity education initiatives?

The ICSSS’ multi-disciplinary nature is what makes it unique. The program is not just a technical boot camp, it also teaches that cyber defence is a team sport, which is a lesson you cannot learn from a textbook.

By bringing students from law, policy, and international relations together with computer scientists, the ICSSS mirrors the reality of modern crisis response.

In what ways does your organisation contribute to ICSSS; content-wise, strategically, or otherwise?

Since the first edition of ICSSS in 2015, NCIA has contributed to the programme by hosting the students at our campus in The Hague for a full day. We provide speakers, including senior leaders like our Chief of Staff, who give the students a strategic overview of cyber defence at NATO, as well as cyber experts who share an insight into their current work, showing a direct line from the Alliance's strategic goals to the daily work of cyber professional.

Over the past few years, our main contribution is an interactive table top exercise, which is a hands-on crisis simulation designed to test the collaborative skills the participants have developed all week. In a high pressured and time sensitive environment, their goal is to work together to provide clear, actionable advice to senior leadership on a difficult strategic problem.

What has the partnership with ICSSS brought to your organisation?

This partnership is a fantastic development opportunity for the NCIA staff who design and run the events, as it keeps us sharp and connected to the broader community. It also strengthens our ties with our fellow founding partners and the entire security ecosystem in The Hague.

The biggest impact of this partnership and NCIA’s participation is the chance to inform the next generation of talented cyber defenders about the work we do at NCIA and present future recruitment opportunities. Young talent bring fresh perspectives.

Is there a moment or experience from a past edition that stands out to you?

What stands out every year is a specific moment that occurs during the table top exercise. There is a point when the teams advance from simply analyzing the technical facts to debating the strategic consequences. You can see the law, policy, and technical students start to truly listen to each other and build a recommendation that none of them could have come up with alone. That moment of multi-disciplinary fusion is incredibly professional, and it is a testament to the quality of the students the ICSSS attracts.

Witnessing that ‘click’ moment when they work together to solve a shared problem is the most rewarding part, because it is a perfect reflection of how we operate every day.

Has ICSSS played a role in attracting talent or driving innovation within your organisation?

ICSSS is a key part of our talent outreach, and there are several alumni from the program working in the NATO community and contributing to the Alliance’s security and defence. NCIA’s participation also drives innovation by forcing us to distill our complex challenges into teachable scenarios. The insightful questions from the students often challenge our own assumptions and spark new ideas.

How do you see the future of cybersecurity, and what role does talent development play in it?

The future of cybersecurity is one of deeper integration with geopolitics and emerging technologies. The biggest challenge will not just be technical; it will be about making sense of complex, multi-domain crises. Therefore, talent development is everything. It is not a question of needing more technical experts; we need more professionals from varied backgrounds who can connect the technical 'ground truth' to strategic decision-making. Initiatives like the ICSSS are fundamental to building that talent and mindset that the students can carry forward and develop further throughout their cyber career.

What would you wish ICSSS for the next 10 years?

My wish for the next 10 years is that ICSSS continues to play such an important role in multi-disciplinary cyber education. I hope it continues to adapt its curriculum to stay at the cutting edge of technology and policy, preparing the next generation for the challenges to come.

In one sentence: ICSSS is for us ...

ICSSS is for us the bridge between theory and practice, where we connect future leaders to the real-world strategic challenges of today. 

We are happy to announce that NCIA will once again be a valued partner of ICSSS this year!

More information

You can only register for ICSSS 2026 until the end of this week! For more information and registration for ICSSS 2026, click here!