The 21st Century Force Multiplier: Public-Private Collaboration

In today’s budget-strapped environment, President Obama’s administration has called for more public-private collaboration.  Recently the President appointed a Principal Director for Community Partnership to the National Security Council staff to address how the government might partner more with outside entities and individuals.

The Department of Defense and most other U.S. government agencies are also looking for ways to improve effectiveness and efficiencies by reaching out to collaborate with private businesses, non-profit organizations and academia. EUCOM has already been working on initiatives like this for some time in areas such as cyber-security, communications, and humanitarian assistance, among others.  For the most part, this collaboration is focused on sharing expertise, exchanging information, and executing projects and operations.

This collaboration is especially beneficial to the government, as most of the cutting edge work, primarily technological, that once was done by the government is now being done in the private sector. The government now relies on private sector expertise to maintain its lead in defense, space and other national security issues.

Perhaps one of the most robust partnering initiatives EUCOM employs is the National Guard State Partnership Program (SPP) – where Guard personnel conduct some of the most enduring military-to-civilian – and even civilian-to-civilian – activities.  The SPP was initially launched as a political and military outreach initiative to the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union in the 1990s and is now a key security cooperation tool. National Guard members now work with EUCOM partner nations on such issues as military justice, disaster response planning, military medical preparedness, search and rescue techniques, border and port security, counter trafficking and counter terrorism among others.

Non-state actors, terrorists, media magnates, cyber hackers, and other nefarious characters can function today with fewer constraints than ever, so the government is going to be continually challenged to protect national security and its citizens.  We here at EUCOM recognize the need to harness the know-how and resources of corporations, universities, research institutions, and charitable and development organizations. We continue to seek out opportunities for public-private cooperation initiatives because today’s problems will not be solved by government alone, but in increasingly in partnership with global business, partnerships with civil society.

Evelyn N. Farkas, Ph.D.
Senior Advisor for Public-Private Partnership
to the Supreme Allied Commander (SACEUR) and Commander, U.S. European Command

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Want to read more on this topic? See the related article penned by Admiral Stavridis and Dr. Farkas or the recent blog by Admiral Stavridis.