The Chief of Staff of the Portuguese Armed Forces, Admiral António Silva Ribeiro invited today, on the 19th of March, General André Lanata, the NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation (SACT), to visit the MARITIME GEOMETOC CENTRE. This visit took place in the context of the Portuguese offer to NATO to establish a MARITIME GEOMETOC Centre Of Excellence (COE). The Portuguese delegation was headed by the Secretary of State of National Defense, Dr. Ana Santos Pinto and completed by the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Admiral Mendes Calado.
This initiative is based on the advanced work and knowledge developed by the Portuguese Navy in the field of the applied Geospatial Information, Meteorology and Oceanography (GEOMETOC) to support Naval Operations. It became a political initiative to reinforce Portuguese contribution to NATO and an input to strength Alliance's maritime posture.
NATO Centres of Excellence are nationally or multi-nationally funded institutions accredited by NATO. NATO COEs train and educate leaders and specialists from NATO member and partner countries, assist in doctrine development, identify lessons learned, improve interoperability and capabilities, and test and validate concepts through experimentation. They offer recognized expertise and experience that is of benefit to the Alliance and support the transformation of NATO, while avoiding the duplication of assets, resources and capabilities already present within the NATO command structure.
