ATS23 seminar organised by NATO's C-IED Centre of Excellence brings experts from 14 nations to Madrid

• This is the second edition of this CoE-organised event, which fosters discussion on possible future scenarios based on current knowledge of the threat in the C-IED fight.

The Centre of Excellence against Improvised Explosive Devices (C-IED CoE) organised the second edition of the Alternate Threat Scenarios Seminar (ATS23) from 5 to 7 September at the facilities of the 'Asociación Pro-Huérfanos de la Guardia Civil' in Madrid.

The seminar was inaugurated by the head of the Guardia Civil's Information Service, Colonel José María Vázquez Aznárez, and by the director of the C-IED CoE, Colonel Javier Corbacho Margallo, and brought together military, police and civilian experts from NATO and its partners, the European Union and other national and international bodies dedicated to the fight against terrorism and violent extremist organisations, as well as experts in attacking the centre's networks. In total, nearly 100 participants from 14 different nations attended.

In this second edition, the conferences focused on analysing the new scenarios that may arise due to emerging threats from violent extremist organisations. These scenarios, based on the CoE experts' knowledge of the threat, were presented in general terms to all attendees and subsequently analysed by different trade unions organised for this purpose. Once the analysis of the scenarios and their different vicissitudes had been completed, the results were shared, thus achieving the objective of sharing experiences and knowledge by creating a favourable environment to enrich the technical profiles of the participants with a better knowledge of the threats and promoting critical thinking on hypothetical future scenarios, the improvement of procedures and inter-agency collaboration.

Improvised Explosive Ordnance Centre of Excellence

The Centre of Excellence against Improvised Explosive Devices (C-IED CoE) is one of 28 NATO Accredited Centres of Excellence and is located in Hoyo de Manzanares, Madrid.

Its mission is to provide expert support to NATO, NATO partners and the International Community in countering the IED System in order to enhance the security of deployed troops by reducing or eliminating the IED threat, especially from terrorist and insurgent networks and any emerging threats resulting from rapidly changing global scenarios.

The C-IED CoE was offered by Spain to NATO as part of its network of Centres of Excellence and first accredited by the Alliance in November 2010. In April 2023, it underwent a new accreditation process, with a result that was "extremely satisfactory" to the Alliance's interests.