Defence`s Feeds

TACTICS (Tactical Service Oriented Architecture), an R&T project launched in 2014 by Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Poland through the European Defence Agency (EDA) and carried out by a consortium of 9 contracting partners and 2 sub-contractors* with the aim to define a Tactical Service Infrastructure (TSI) enabling military tactical radio networks to participate to Service Oriented Architectures (SOA), was brought to a successful closure at a final meeting of the TACTICS working group at the EDA premises on the 8 of June. 

Military systems, communications and information infrastructures are increasingly becoming service-oriented, both on a national level and in the context of international collaboration. However, while research on Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) in classical business environments has produced satisfactory and well-established solutions, this is not the case for mobile/tactical environments in which operators have to deal with much more complex challenges (such as the limitations of disruptive and throughput-constrained networks, aggravated by limited end user devices) for which existing SOA technologies are not an answer. 

EDA’s TACTICS project was thus launched in February 2014 to: propose measures to mitigate the constraints of military tactical environments so that they can also benefit from SOA; and to formally describe a Tactical Service Infrastructure (TSI) in a reference architecture following the NATO Architecture Framework (NAF).

At the beginning of the project, military constraints, operational requirements and expected SOA benefits were collected and defined with the help of national military experts. On this basis, a reference architecture for a Tactical Service Infrastructure (TSI) was designed in such a way that it can cope with the constraints. 

By performing a number of technology studies in dedicated fields of research, it was ensured that the TSI reference architecture encompasses up-to-date and also novel research results reaching from security policy management, traffic engineering, quality of service provision and interoperability mechanisms for semantic service registries. 

The resulting TSI reference architecture describes how a future SOA-based middleware could be established and what mechanisms the middleware can take advantage of, to support user-facing services’ realisation in a tactical constrained environment.
Multinational live demonstration

The findings were shown in a multinational live demonstration. The demonstration, carried out on the 11/12 April 2017 in Ditzingen (Germany), incorporated national tactical radios (UHF and VHF) and an emulated long-range satellite connection. Based on this, the Consortium presented selected SOA benefits and technical innovations in the researched areas using a proof-of-concept implementation of the TSI and exemplary user-facing services. 

*The consortium is composed of the following companies/institutions: Thales Deutschland (Consortium Coordinator), Fraunhofer FKIE, Germany (Technical Coordinator), Patria Aviation Oy (Finland), Thales Communications & Security (France), Leonardo (Italy), Thales Starmille (Italy), University of L’Aquila (Italy), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway), ITTI (Poland), Military Communication Institute (Poland), Military University of Technology (Poland).

• Official project’s web site 

In order to consolidate its presence in Afghanistan and to maintain, expand and ensure better impact of its current output, AAN is seeking to recruit one Researcher. The positions are expected to be Kabul-based and full time.

Background

The AAN is a non-profit, independent policy research organisation, established in February 2009. It aims to bring together the knowledge, experience and drive of experts to better inform policy and to increase the understanding of Afghan realities. It is driven by engagement and curiosity and is committed to producing independent, high quality and research-based analysis on the main developments in Afghanistan.

The institutional structure of AAN includes a small core team, currently consisting of three Co-Directors/Senior Analysts ‘commuting’ between Europe and Afghanistan, and a Kabul-based team of international and Afghan analysts. AAN has a small, well-functioning office and a guesthouse in Kabul that serves as the hub of the organisation’s activities.

AAN publishes regular in-depth thematic reports, policy briefings and political commentaries. The main channel for the dissemination of the reports is the AAN web site. For more information on AAN please check the AAN website: www.aan-afghanistan.org

The Researcher will report to AAN’s Co-Directors or a person designated by them, and s/he will be provided with a fixed-term and renewable employee contract. Remuneration will depend on experience and skills, taking into account the current AAN salary scales.

Note: AAN is a small, hard-working and dynamic team and we are looking for individuals who will fit well with AAN’s current team and who are able to contribute to AAN’s work, rather than individuals to fill exact positions. This is a team for self-starters that enjoy contributing to team work, researchers with a sense of both detail and creativity, who enjoy a wide range of tasks including commenting on and editing other people’s work, mentoring younger researchers, communication tasks, etc.

Job description Researcher

Specific responsibilities

• Develop and conduct in-country field research with a view to producing high-quality analytical reports;
• Closely follow the political developments in and around Afghanistan and contribute to dispatches, reports and speaking engagements;
• Contribute to AAN’s in-country communication through organising events, contributing to AAN’s Dari/Pastho website and social media presence;
• Contribute to translation, editing and peer reviews of AAN publications;
• Contribute to the administration and management of the AAN network and in-country presence;
• Contribute to the management of AAN’s research portfolio;
• Other tasks as deemed necessary.

General Requirements

• Degree in a relevant field (Masters in for instance, Communications, Journalism, Political Science or Social Sciences);
• Knowledge and experience of communications and/or advocacy work and of developing communications’ strategies;
• Knowledge and experience of the Afghan political and social landscape;
• A minimum of 5 years relevant working experience in Afghanistan and/or its region;
• Excellent communications, networking and organizational skills;
• Excellent analytical, writing skills and editing skills;
• Ability to function in a demanding and challenging environment (flexibility, a sense of humour and the ability to work with relatively little guidance are essential)
• Native Dari or Pashto speaker and excellent English language skills with a passion for language. 

Starting date

The selected candidates will start at a mutually agreed date. There is a three month trial period.

How to apply

You can email your application, consisting of a CV with cover letter outlining your experience, three references (with up-to-date email addresses) and a recent example of your writing and analytical skills, to ‘recruitment@afghanistan-analysts.org‘.

Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

For administrative ease please write ‘AAN application Researcher’ and your name in the subject line.

The deadline for applications for this recruitment is 15 July 2017.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

For more details on the positions or the application process please direct your queries to: sari@afghanistan-analysts.org

In order to consolidate its presence in Afghanistan and to maintain, expand and ensure better impact of its current output, AAN is seeking to recruit one or two new research staff members. Depending on skills, training and experience they will be hired for the position of Junior or Senior Analyst. The positions are expected to be Kabul-based and full time.

Background

The AAN is a non-profit, independent policy research organisation, established in February 2009. It aims to bring together the knowledge, experience and drive of experts to better inform policy and to increase the understanding of Afghan realities. It is driven by engagement and curiosity and is committed to producing independent, high quality and research-based analysis on the main developments in Afghanistan.

The institutional structure of AAN includes a small core team, currently consisting of three Co-Directors/Senior Analysts ‘commuting’ between Europe and Afghanistan, and a Kabul-based team of international and Afghan analysts. AAN has a small, well-functioning office and a guesthouse in Kabul that serves as the hub of the organisation’s activities.

AAN publishes regular in-depth thematic reports, policy briefings and political commentaries. The main channel for the dissemination of the reports is the AAN web site. For more information on AAN please check the AAN website: www.aan-afghanistan.org

In order to consolidate its presence in Afghanistan and to maintain, expand and ensure better impact of its current output, AAN is seeking to recruit one or two new research staff members. Depending on skills, training and experience they will be hired for the position of Senior or Junior Analyst. Both positions are expected to be Kabul-based and full time (some flexibility possible for the right candidate).

The Senior/Junior Analyst will report to AAN’s Co-Directors, and s/he will be provided with a renewable consultancy contract. Remuneration will depend on experience and skills, taking into account the current AAN salary scales.

AAN provides war risk insurance and travel/accommodation costs during official travel.

Note: AAN is recruiting one or two persons. AAN is a small, hard-working and dynamic team and we are looking for individuals who will fit well with AAN’s current team and who are able to contribute to AAN’s work, rather than individuals to fill exact positions. This is a team for self-starters that enjoy contributing to team work, researchers with a sense of both detail and creativity, who enjoy a wide range of tasks including commenting on and editing other people’s work, mentoring younger researchers, communication tasks, etc.

Job description Junior/Senior Analyst

Specific responsibilities for both positions

• Plan, manage and conduct in-country field research with a view to producing high-quality analytical reports;
• Drafting and finalising analytically in-depth dispatches and possibly reports;
• Participate in all aspects of AAN’s analysis and review processes, including through research collaboration, editing of colleagues’ texts, peer reviewing of reports and mentoring of younger colleagues;
• Contribute to all aspects of AAN’s communications’ processes through media interviews, social media outreach briefings, speaking engagements and other events;
• As needed, contribute to the administration and management of the AAN network and in-country presence.

General Requirements

• Degree in a relevant field (Masters in for instance Communications, Journalism, Political Science or Social Sciences);
• A minimum of 7 years relevant working experience for the Junior Analyst and a minimum of 12 years relevant working experience for the Senior analyst, of which at least three year in Afghanistan, a neighboring country or the region for both;
• A deep and documented knowledge and experience of the Afghan and/or regional political and social landscape;
• Excellent and documented analytical, writing skills and editing skills.
• Experience in communications, social media campaigns, etc.
• Excellent networking and organisational skills;
• Ability to function in a demanding and challenging environment (flexibility and a sense of humour are essential)
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Native English speaker or comparable level with a passion for language;
• Preferably proficient in Dari, Pashto or another locally relevant language.

Candidates do not need to specify whether they are applying for the Junior or Senior Analyst position. A determination will be made based on years of experience, level of knowledge and an assessment of the candidate’s ability to independently research, draft and edit, and possibly mentor others to AAN’s standards.

Starting date

The selected candidates will start at a mutually agreed date. There is a three month trial period.

How to apply

You can email your application, consisting of a CV with cover letter outlining your experience, three references (with up-to-date email addresses) and a recent example of your writing and analytical skills, to ‘recruitment@afghanistan-analysts.org’.

Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

For administrative ease please write ‘AAN application Analyst’ and your name in the subject line.

The deadline for applications for this recruitment is 15 July 2017.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

For more details on the positions or the application process please direct your queries to: sari@afghanistan-analysts.org