Internationally, the value of the role of reservists is becoming more recognised and the reliance on the use of reservists is increasing. With increasing and rapid technological and social developments it is important that CIOR reviews it operating framework to ensure that it remains an organisation that remains fit for purpose and maintains its credibility. It was for this reason that the President established a Strategic group to carry out a CIOR self-assessment which would inform a strategical study for a renewed CIOR 3.0. The resulting strategic document directs the developments of CIOR towards the future, most importantly by outlining an image of 2020 and beyond.
CIOR is a NATO-affiliated, non-political and non-profit umbrella organisation of member nations’ national reserve officer associations. The relationship between CIOR and NATO is fully defined in NATO Military Committee (MC) 248/1. CIOR has traditionally had two key roles: (1) To provide advice on Reserve issues and support to the NATO Alliance and (2) To foster the professional development of reserve officers.
Over the last few years these roles have come under some pressure in terms of how they are reviewed and valued by NATO and individual Ministries of Defence (MoDs). Despite this it is recognized that in 2016 CIOR has the potential to be recognised as a valuable resource in terms of its access to the Reservist community and how Reservists work at an operational level. However, if CIOR is to continue to be effective, it needs to recognise when and how change is needed, and more importantly be prepared to initiate appropriate change. The world is changing and that means that the (relevant) environment of CIOR has to change. Equally, CIOR needs to acknowledge the rapid pace of change in the society it works within and respond accordingly.
In order to get CIOR ready for the coming years it is essential to consider the factors that are likely to have the most influence on how it should work. The CIOR 3.0 strategy paper considers these as social environmental factors and technical factors. Using this information, the paper considers what would be the key changes that may be required to create a CIOR that is future-proof, healthy, and contemporary. The paper presents this as a number of possible scenarios for consideration by the Council which could be built on to inform the way forward and be agreed as the Strategic plan.
Based on the assessment of these scenario it can be indicated that scenario “(Virtual) Centre of Excellence on reservist in support MoD’s and NATO” is the best scenario for CIOR 3.0. This scenario describes the desirable situation of CIOR in 2020 and beyond. As CIOR is the networking specialist in relation to expertise of, with and by reservists throughout the world, it is capable of quickly and attractively connecting civil and military expertise/competencies and to make these constructively available to its members and business partners. From this specialism CIOR has gained the status of a Virtual Centre of Excellence and optimally uses the technological developments in execution, management, and the maintenance of expertise.
However, considering the expected large changes that this scenario brings along it is essential to also have a backup scenario. Scenario “Social/Veteran network” is an excellent scenario that CIOR can fall back on if the implementation of “(Virtual) Centre of Excellence on reservist in support MoD’s and NATO” does not work out as expected. In order to prevent starting all over when the scenario is deemed unimplementable, we already incorporate some elements of “Social/Veteran network” in the development of scenario.
As a consequence, CIOR defined its concept Mission 2020 and concept Vision 2020 as follows:
Mission 2020
CIOR is the international centre of excellence in the field of military reservist matters with the aim to collect, manage and provide strategical and operational knowledge for its members in order to support consultation and development in the military and/or civil domain within the NATO and its members.
Vision 2020
CIOR achieves this by actively involving its members and to develop, establish and mantain a (virtual) centre of excellence through the combination of technical developments and the use of the social network. In this, CIOR will be an attractive business partner for likeminded organisations and will proactively collaborate with them in a network construction.
In order to successfully implement the previously presented CIOR 3.0 strategy it is essential to use a step by step method within which the Council (VP’s) led by the Presidency supports, sets frameworks, but is also personally involved. CIOR 3.0 plan is not a rigid multiyear plan, but a communal flexible route book of and by its members. The created strategical documents became part of the strategical guidelines for the following years unless otherwise decided by the Council.