Mr. Dag Wilhelmsen

General manager NATO Cunsultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A)

 

Mr. Dag Wilhelmsen, General Manager NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A) (BE) Mr. Wilhelmsen was born in Oslo, Norway, in 1949 and graduated from the Norwegian Army Signal Corps Officers' School in 1969. After completing compulsory military service in the Norwegian Army Electronic Warfare Company, he graduated with a Master of Electronics/Telecommunications from the Norges Tekniske Høyskole (Norwegian Institute of Technology) in 1974.

He then joined Standard Telefon og Kabelfabrikk A/S (STK) where he worked as a research scientist on digital transmission in public data networks. From 1976 to 1981 Mr. Wilhelmsen was a member of the STK team that developed a nodal switching system to provide digital service integrated networks for Norwegian defence and other military and civilian users.

In 1981 Mr. Wilhelmsen was seconded as a senior scientist in the Networks Branch of the SHAPE Technical Centre Communications Division, working on the NATO Integrated Communications System (NICS).

Between 1982 and 1985 he was STK Project Manager responsible for the introduction of the Norwegian Defence Digital Network (NDDN), a project based on the STK Nodal Switching Technology.

He then held the position of Chief of the Public Switching Division of STK (later Alcatel-STK) and was responsible for the introduction and implementation of more than one million lines of System 1240 public exchanges in the Norwegian PTT network during the transition of from analogy to digital switching technology. In 1988 Mr. Wilhelmsen was the lead member and sole foreigner on a team in the Turkish PTT responsible for the development of the System Architectural Study and Master Plan for the Turkish General Staff's Defence Network (TAFICS). He continued as a consultant to the Turkish PTT General Directorate until 1990.

From 1990 to 1993 Mr. Wilhelmsen was employed by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (NDRE) as Chief Scientist responsible for scientific research in the areas of command and control (C2) systems, Air C2 System (ACCS) and Electronic Warfare and Defence Communications. He was then employed as the manager for the ATA consortium's bid for the TAFICS Project delivery contract in Turkey, responsible for the overall coordination and technical leadership.

Mr Wilhelmsen returned to the SHAPE Technical Centre in The Hague, Netherlands, in April 1994 to take up his appointment as Chief of the Communications Division, responsible for the management of an international team of experts in telecommunications, and for designing and implementing solutions for NATO's Peace Support Operations. He continued in this function when the STC and the NATO Communications and Information Systems Agency merged to become the NATO C3 Agency in 1996, and was also responsible for major elements of the Agency restructuring related to business processes for customer-funded scientific research. Following an internal review in 2001-2002 Mr Wilhelmsen was tasked with the creation of a new Resources Division, and as acting Director he combined all internal technical, financial and administrative services into an integrated internal "profit centre" philosophy.

In 2002 Mr Wilhelmsen moved to Paris, France as Chief Engineer for TAC ONE/THALES, responsible for the technical development and coordination within the TACONE consortium, charged with the development of NATO interoperability standards for next generation of national tactical defence networks. In the autumn of 2003 he was selected for the position of General Manager NC3A, and, based in the Agency's Brussels offices, took up his position on 1 July 2004.