Defence force wants ICT support

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The time for ICT in the military has arrived, says the SANDF.The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is courting the ICT industry, calling on interested companies to attend its Third Military Information and Communications Symposium of SA (Micssa) in July.

“The time for ICT in the military has arrived,” brigadier general Mario Brazzoli, acting head of the SANDF`s Command Management Information Systems division, said yesterday at a media event to launch the symposium and call for papers.

Speaking at the Pretoria offices of symposium co-sponsor, the State IT Agency (SITA), he said the defence force had in recent years acquired new fighters, helicopters and ships, and “these now have to talk to each other”.

Brazzoli said issues that needed to be discussed included information systems security and interoperability as well as the “big woolly words of ‘network-centric warfare` and ‘network-centric defence`.”

He also promised the defence force would outline its current projects and future ICT planning and timelines.

Other than SITA and the SANDF, interested users who would attend the conference were the SA Police Service, delegates from elsewhere in the Southern African Development Community and participants in Exercise African Endeavour 2007 – timed for just before Micssa.

Brazzoli explained that African Endeavour, held for the first time this year under the auspices of the United States European Command, was a LAN/WAN and high-frequency interoperability exercise involving 25 African countries. Next year`s event would likely involve 35 of Africa`s 53 nations.

Brazzoli also said India and Brazil would participate as part of SA`s south-to-south partnership drive.

The symposium will be held from 24 to 27 July at the CSIR conference centre in Pretoria.

 

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