NCCB (NATO centralized communications and information systems budget)

NCCB is the acronym NATO uses for the NATO Combined Communications and Information Services Budget. NATO's own audit documents describe it as a budget that funds operations and maintenance costs for communications and information services, including hardware, software, training and required contractual services. The source is a NATO International Board of Auditors report.

Other NATO financial documents call the same budget the NATO Centralised CIS Budget, where CIS stands for communications and information systems. The phrase "NATO centralized communications and information systems budget" is therefore the plain-language rendering of that wording. Both names point to one common-funded budget for centralized communications and information services.

What the NCCB pays for

The NCCB is an operating budget. NATO describes it as covering the running and upkeep of communications and information services rather than the original build of new capability. The listed cost types are hardware, software, training and the contractual services needed to keep those services working.

NATO financial statements also place the NCCB among the budgets connected with NATO command-structure entities and their use of NATO communications and information system capabilities. The 2019 Allied Command Operations financial audit uses the "Centralised CIS Budget" wording, and the 2015 audit lists the NCCB among the budgets linked to those entities.

Related budgets and service terms

NATO identifies the NCCB alongside two other terms in its description of centralized CIS management, in a NATO job posting for a service level agreements analyst:

• CSLA: the Centralized Service Level Agreement, part of centralized CIS service management.
• NCNCB: the NATO Centralized Nuclear CIS Budget, a separate budget from the NCCB.
• NCI Agency: the NATO Communications and Information Agency, which delivers or supports NATO CIS capabilities.

Keep these terms apart when reading NATO documents. Each names a different budget, agreement or organization.

NCCB and the NSIP are different funding sources

The NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP) is a separate funding source. The Department of National Defence's guide to NATO procurement states that most NATO capital investment projects are funded through the NSIP. The same guide notes that the civil budget is financed through national foreign-ministry budgets and supervised by NATO's Civil Budget Committee. The NCCB is an operations and maintenance budget for communications and information services, so a reference to it should not be read as an NSIP reference.

How NATO buys, and where Canadian suppliers see it

NATO has no single central procurement organization. The DND guide explains that different NATO entities and agencies carry out procurement. CanadaBuys states that the NATO Support and Procurement Agency buys goods and services on behalf of NATO nations and that Canadian businesses can bid on many of these opportunities. CanadaBuys also showcases relevant NATO tender notices.

What NCCB means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Treat NCCB as a NATO budget reference. It is not a Canadian federal contract clause or a Canadian bidding requirement. If the term appears in a NATO or related tender document, read it as identifying the funding source for communications and information services costs such as hardware, software, training or contracted services.

Obligations on a supplier come from the specific procurement documents. Public Services and Procurement Canada states that organizations bidding on NATO opportunities must meet the NATO security requirements specified in those documents. See the PSPC page on NATO agreements. Check security, technical and contractual instructions in each solicitation before committing bid resources.