NNCC (NATO network control centre)

NNCC stands for NATO network control centre. NATO's Network and Information Systems Policy (NISP) acronym list records the term as "NNCC: NATO network control centre". It belongs to the vocabulary of NATO communications and information systems, where a control centre is the place from which networks and services are watched and managed. The entry is in the NISP acronym list.

A publication from the NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency describes two NNCCs. The primary centre is in Mons, Belgium, and the alternate is in Brunssum, the Netherlands. Together they remotely control NATO's fixed and deployed communications capabilities. The details are in the NCI Agency Communicator.

The primary and alternate centres in Mons and Brunssum

NATO runs its network control function from two locations rather than one. Mons hosts the primary NNCC. Brunssum hosts the alternate NNCC. The pairing means control of NATO networks does not depend on a single site. NATO service documentation describes Network Monitoring and Control Services as a 24/7 service delivered by a primary network control centre and backed up by an alternate one. That description appears in the NCI Agency service catalogue.

The NNCCs cover both fixed and deployed capabilities. Fixed capabilities are the permanent networks that serve NATO headquarters and commands. Deployed capabilities are those set up for operations and exercises. The same centres control both kinds remotely.

What a network control centre does day to day

NCI Agency job material describes the Network Control Centre as responsible for 24/7 control and monitoring of the systems and services the Agency operates. Its duties include:

• event management, so alarms and faults on the network are detected and handled;
• incident management, with first-level and second-level support;
• escalation of problems through established processes when frontline support cannot resolve them.

This description comes from an NCI Agency vacancy notice. In practice, the NNCC is the operational watch point for NATO's networks and the first place a service problem is seen and routed.

How NNCC relates to NCC, NACOSA and the NCI Agency

Several related terms appear in NATO material:

• NCC means "Network Control Center" or "national control centre", depending on context. NATO service documentation uses NCC for the network control function itself.
• NACOSA is the NATO CIS Operating and Support Agency, an acronym that is also listed in the NISP acronym material.
• NISP is the NATO Network and Information Systems policy and architecture material that records NNCC in its acronym list.
• NCI Agency is the NATO Communications and Information Agency. NATO identifies it as the body providing NATO-wide IT services, procurement and support in communications and information systems. See the NATO page on NATO agencies.

Because NATO's own terminology source gives the expansion as NATO network control centre, that is the form to use in bids, briefings and correspondence.

What NNCC means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

NNCC is a NATO operational term. It is not a Canadian federal compliance requirement, and a supplier should not treat it as one. Canadian defence and security opportunities are published through CanadaBuys, and the Department of National Defence directs companies there for notices, requests for information and bid submission. See DND's information for companies and the CanadaBuys tender opportunities page.

The term is most useful for bid teams that support NATO-linked communications work or read NATO documentation. Knowing that an NNCC is a network control centre, with a primary site in Mons and an alternate in Brunssum, helps a team read NATO service descriptions correctly. It also helps them describe monitoring, incident handling and escalation capabilities in the language NATO uses.