The NATO Lessons Learned Conference brings together all echelons of the NATO Lessons Learned Community and connects with Lessons Learned professionals and experts from industry and academia. It provides the community with updates on everything related to Lessons Learned—from improvements to the NATO Lessons Learned Portal to the latest topical lessons—, as well as a stage for NATO leadership to convey their Lessons Learned messages, engage with community, and reiterate the importance of Lessons Learned for NATO.
The 2024 iteration brought together almost 300 participants from over 160 entities, as well as representatives from industry and academia showcasing the latest solutions in augmented reality, hologram technology, and robotics. This year’s event was the first full live-in-person iteration since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, General Chris Badia, opened the NATO Lessons Learned Conference as a recorded hologram appearing on stage; in a live video call, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr. Stanislav Hader, spoke about the Ukrainian Lessons Learned experience in the battlefield; NATO Assistant Secretary General for Operations, Mr Tom Goffus, hoghlighted the urgency to learn lessons in general, but especially those being observed from Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The theme of the conference, The NATO Lessons Learned Capability Development in support of NATO 2030 efforts, was broken down into three main panels and several topical segments. The panels—on Lessons Learned in the Digital Age, Enhancing Alliance learning through Lessons Learned Sharing and Interoperability, and NATO Lessons Learned Capability Development in support of other NATO Capabilities—were complemented with segments on topical issues such as Lessons from the war against Ukraine, a NATO 2030 overview, and spotlights on Finland as a new NATO Nation and Australia as an experienced Partner Nation.
This unique forum has been in the Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre’s custody since its inception in 2003. The Centre hosts this event on behalf of Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, who personally provides the theme for each iteration of the event and approves the overall design and proposed content. In his message for the conference participants, General Lavigne reiterated the importance of not just collecting and identifying lessons, but also making sure they are implemented NATO-wide to ensure Alliance Transformation at the speed of relevance.
The next iteration of the NATO Lessons Learned Conference is due to take place in 2026; in the meantime, the NATO Lessons Learned Conference Magazine will present highlights from the various panels and topical segments as well as interesting statistics and behind the scenes moments from the 2024 event.
You can read more about what happened at the NATO Lessons Learned Conference 2024—including more detail on the various presentations—on the JALLC’s dedicated page and by watching this short video of the highlights.
