The effects of COVID-19 on not just the day-to-day routine of everyday life but the psyche of the communities and organizations forced to face this invisible enemy have been profound. No longer do we, the NATO C2COE, look at the way in which we conduct operations as “business as usual”. The need to not only adapt the way that we research ongoing C2 topics and engage with our NATO allies, but to ultimately disseminate our knowledge has created a culture that looks increasingly to the civil sector for inspiration. Adapting to a landscape that embraces marketplace technology and savvy approaches not just to the marketing of one’s products, but also itself as a whole creates a delicate balancing act of visibility against information security.
This more open embrace of media beyond the traditional platforms like LinkedIn, and to a larger extent podcasting platforms, has created an almost diametric shift in how the NATO C2COE conducts business. Now, NATO COEs and military organizations must wrestle with new ways to continue work, project power, and retain relevance in this new frontier. While the starting point to navigating this social frontier may be obvious to some, the direction to pursue isn’t always clear. Is this new way of working and interacting a temporary means to an end? What is the logical conclusion of engagement with social platforms given the innate role of the military and government? How do we (NATO C2COE) take the lessons learned from the civil sector and apply it to our new, adapting strategy?
In this bonus episode, we delve deeper into the rapidly changing media landscape brought on by COVID-19, and the implications for military organizations who continue to work and share information. LT Adrian Granillo (USA N) sits down with the NATO C2COE’s resident Communications Officer, Max van Rijn (NLD CIV), to discuss this topic.
