Canada, NATO and Private Sector Engagement

Headquartered in Ottawa, Samuel Associates is one of the country's largest and most influential consulting firms in the defence, space, and security industries. In 2020, their passion for meaningful discussion and debate on national defence issues, international security, emergent technologies, and the economy led Samuel Associates to launch the Policy Insights Forum (PIF). 

The PIF is a non-partisan, Ottawa-based NGO dedicated to improving Canadian decision-making through independent research and analysis. It engages the private sector on important policy matters through expert insights and events such as the Digitalization of Defence and Security Summit, which the PIF hosted with Canadian Defence Review (CDR) Magazine as a media sposnor, in November 2021. Building on that success, PIF approached NATO Public Diplomacy Division (PDD) to develop and sponsor a new Canadian NATO-Private Sector Engagement (NPSE) program to span the Public-Private Sector divide. The PIF now runs the NPSE program to Brussels annually directed at Canadian CEOs and senior defence, security, space and advanced technology executives. 

Since 2022, Akimbo Technologies Inc., Amazon Web Services, Base Camp Connect, Bell Canada, BMT Canada, Calian Group, Canadian Commercial Corporation, Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange, Crypto 4A, Dominis Engineering, GeoSpectrum Technologies Inc., Lastwall Networks, Palitronica, Raytheon ELCAN, Saab, Satellogic, Telesat, Thales Canada and Ultra Maritime have participated in the PIF's NPSE program. The next NPSE visit to Brussels is scheduled for late February 2024. 

The PIF is expanding its defence industry engagement programming this Fall to include an US-NPSE 2023 executive visit to Washington, D.C. (US DoD and DARPA) and NATO in Norfolk, in partnership with the Government of Canada, the United States, and NATO Allied Command Transformation. This initiative aims to connect innovative Canadian business leaders to defence industry decision-makers in North America.

This year, on May 25th, the PIF co-hosted an exclusive event with AWS Canada, which featured General Philippe Lavigne, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT). Senior officials from the Government of Canada were in attendance, including DND & CAF, Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and Privy Council Office (PCO).

The theme of this event was "NATO and the Future of Technology, R&D and Innovation." General Lavigne shared his experiences and knowledge about NATO's Innovation Hub, Disruptive Technologies, and SACT's collaboration with NATO's DIANA initiative.

As Canada's defence landscape continues to evolve, Samuel Associates has established itself as a forward-thinking and trusted partner, consistently delivering exceptional solutions to its clients in Canada, the U.S. and internationally.