Danish Ambassador Presents Communications Equipment

Robust communications' and information management systems are important prerequisites in increasing productivity and effectiveness of any organization in an era dominated by technological innovations.

It is on this premise that the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark, together with the United Kingdom teamed up once again to present to the Eastern Africa Standby Force state of the art Command & Control Communications Information Systems (C2CIS) equipment on 9th November 2017 at the Secretariat in Karen, Nairobi.

On behalf of the Danish Government, the equipment was presented to the Standby Force by the Danish Ambassador to Kenya, Her Excellency Mette Knudsen accompanied by the Danish Defence Attache to Kenya, Colonel Joern Rasmussen and the Danish Technical Advisor to EASF, Colonel Claus Pedersen.

Amb. Knudsen applauded the numerous milestones EASF has achieved since its inception in 2004; these achievements culminated into the Standby Force's attainment of the Full Operational Capability (FOC) in 2014. Denmark is one of the four Nordic Countries supporting EASF under the umbrella organization called the Nordic Advisory Coordination Staff (NACS) which is located at the Secretariat. Amb. Knudsen has been passionately following the development of the organization and her Government has unequivocally supported many EASF projects. The Defence Attaché Colonel Rasmussen who is also the Chairman of the Friends of EASF was one of the key architects of this project.

During the ceremony, the EASF Director Dr. Abdillahi Omar Bouh thanked the two Governments for the unwavering support they have accorded the regional peacekeeper over the years. He underlined the importance of having a well-equipped Forward Force noting that the communications docket is key to the success of any mission or exercise. Dr. Bouh conveyed his warmest regards to the peoples of the two countries and appreciated the strong partnership which has been crucial to EASF's capacity building efforts.

The Government of the United Kingdom was represented  by an official from the British Peace Support Team (BPST) Lt. Col. Jon Hipkins.

The equipment, which comprises high end laptops, data servers, voice communications' components, power generators, wide area network tools among others is meant to support any EASF Force being deployed with an emphasis being placed on Mission and Force management segments.
 
The communications' equipment was supplied by two local companies namely, Smoothtel Data Solutions and Datacore Limited.

 Photo-gallery: Danish Ambassador to Kenya Presents Communications Equipment to EASF