By Ilja M. Bonsen
Ilja M. Bonsen reflects on a landmark year of record-breaking events organized by NCT Consultants and reveals what is in store in 2025.
In a world where immediate action is needed to address a multitude of serious defense and security considerations, in 2024 NCT Consultants dared to be bold. We dared to take risks. We dared to do what had never been done before. Having organized landmark events in Colombia, Croatia, the USA, Thailand, and the UAE, I can confidently say that 2024 was a success.
Government and industry cannot, do not, and must not operate in separate bubbles. It is only through creating platforms for sharing knowledge and networking that public and private can meet, discuss, and begin their collaborative journeys in pursuit of their common goal. NCT Consultants provides these platforms in a way that is now bigger, better, and bolder than ever before.
South America
Our first event of the year took place in Bogotá, Colombia, and welcomed a record-breaking 379 delegates. It was again the only joint CBRNE conference, exhibition, and training event on the continent, and could not have been the huge success that it was without the enthusiastic support of the National Army of Colombia.
Among many distinguished speakers, we were delighted to receive the Commander of Military Engineers of the National Army of Colombia, Brigadier General Ricardo Heriberto Roque Salcedo, as well as the Commander of the Brigade of Engineers for the Attention and Prevention of Disasters of the National Army of Colombia, Colonel Yohanny Quijano Zanguña. To top it off, we were honored to welcome the Colombian Vice Minister of Strategy and Planning, Luis Edmundo Suárez Soto. Alongside the record-breaking conference and exhibition, six military, police, and civil teams from Colombia and Ecuador also took part in the PRO eXperience trainings.
We are looking forward to continuing and building upon this success with NCT América del Sur 2025 in Rio de Janeiro in collaboration with our long-time partners, the Brazilian Army.
Europe
NCT Europe 2024 was a landmark event. Against all odds, we pulled off something remarkable and unprecedented.
Taking place inside the abandoned and empty concrete shell of the half-built University Hospital on the outskirts of Zagreb, Croatia, NCT Europe 2024 and NCT PRO Challenge, for the first time ever, saw two conference streams, an industry exhibition, and five-days of CBRNE trainings integrated into one single event.
It was by no means a perfect event. We made mistakes and we will learn from them. But what we managed to do, to the huge credit of every single person in the NCT team and many more associates and partners, demonstrated that pushing the boundaries of what is possible is never a bad thing. It is in fact quite the opposite. The names and numbers speak for themselves.
Two conference streams welcomed 30 speakers, nine of whom represented sponsoring companies. The European Defence Agency, NATO, European Commission, INTERPOL, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, United States of America, Georgia, and Azerbaijan were among the many institutions and countries taking to the floor during the conference.
Meanwhile, over 20 police, civil defense, first responder, military, SWAT/SOF, and other training teams from more than 10 European countries followed an intense program of live CBRNE trainings led by experienced instructors. Live streams from the most important parts of these scenarios were periodically broadcast into the conference rooms, with commentary and analysis provided by the two chairmen, Col. Günter Povoden and Hon. Michael Balboni.
In total, NCT Europe 2024 and its concurrent NCT PRO Challenge Europe welcomed around 400 people. We sincerely thank every single one of them for believing in and being part of our bold vision for what the future of CBRNE events could look like.
In 2025, NCT Europe will be going where it has never gone before. The United Kingdom represents one of Europe’s biggest CBRNE markets, and with government partners in the Ministry of Defence and National CBRN Centre NCT Europe 2025 promises to be another unmissable edition of the continent’s biggest CBRNE conference and exhibition.
PRO Challenge Europe, meanwhile, will take place during the much larger U.S. Army-led multinational exercise Defender 25 in Greece, in June. We are prepared and excited to deliver the most comprehensive week of CBRNE training that we have ever done. And, as an exciting new adventure in 2025, NCT Consultants has been contracted by the European Defence Agency to organize their first live agent training.
United States
Last year marked the 10th edition of NCT USA, the largest event of its kind in the country. It also marked the fourth year that U.S. Army DEVCOM CBC had co-hosted the event at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Edgewood, MD.
Speaking during the opening plenary of the conference, DEVCOM CBC Director Michael Bailey said, “I’m not sure there’s another event that brings together a community like this.” Indeed, NCT USA 2024 welcomed over 400 of the country’s leading governmental and industry stakeholders in three days of spirited discussion and valuable knowledge exchange about all things CBRNE.
NCT USA is a stalwart event in the NCT events calendar, and we look forward to continuing our close cooperation with DEVCOM CBC and the U.S. government in the years to come.
Asia-Pacific
October saw NCT Consultants take its combined conference, exhibition, and trainings to Hua Hin, Thailand, for the 15th edition of NCT APAC. The conference consisted of six separate sessions on the most pertinent CBRNE topics unique to Southeast Asia, and welcomed a wide range of distinguished speakers from across the region.
Meanwhile, 24 training teams from seven different countries – namely Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, the USA, and Singapore – participated in the concurrent PRO Challenge training scenarios. Like NCT Europe earlier last year, live streams from the trainings were also broadcast in the conference and exhibition spaces. This was the first time ever that such an ambitious joint CBRNE conference, exhibition, and trainings had taken place in the Asia-Pacific region, and is another impressive benchmark set by NCT Consultants.
2024 also saw NCT Consultants expand its physical global presence by opening a new office in Cambodia, headed by our Sales Manager, Josep “Pepe” Font. We were honored to welcome Gen. Phorn Nara, General Secretary of the National Authority of the Prevention of Chemical, Nuclear, Biological, and Radiological Weapons of Cambodia, as our distinguished guest of honor to the opening ceremony.
In 2025, NCT APAC and PRO Challenge will revert to being separate events. The conference and exhibition will be returning to the Republic of Korea, while PRO Challenge will again take place in Thailand.
Middle East
Our final event of the year took place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Although a smaller event when compared to other regions, NCT Middle East 2024 welcomed almost 200 delegates. This set a new record for NCT Middle East and is a very encouraging sign of increasing cooperation between us and several governments across the Middle East.
In Abu Dhabi, we were particularly honored to welcome the Chairman of the Gulf Cooperation Council Emergency Management Center, BG Dr. Rashed Al Marri, as well Dr. Khalifa Al Kaabi of the National Crisis and Emergency Management Center of the UAE.
The 2025 edition of NCT Middle East will also visit a country where we have not been before. Saudi Arabia has seen unprecedented change since the turn of the millennium and is now one of the world’s go-to destinations for sporting events, music concerts, and international expos. It is also a regional leader in defense and security, and it is therefore high time that NCT Middle East take place in Riyadh, in partnership with the General Directorate of Civil Defense of Saudi Arabia.
The Global Picture and the Importance of Readiness
Looking back on an eventful 2024, it is clear that NCT Consultants has seen a lot of positives, has a lot to celebrate, and a lot to be proud of. However, we must never forget that our mission remains somber and serious. Only a brief glance at the headlines will tell you that the world is unstable and unpredictable, and that CBRNE incidents can emerge in any place, at any time, in any form.
Brazil both started and ended 2024 with acid spills resulting in contamination of water sources. In January in southern Brazil, a local state of emergency was declared after a truck carrying sulfonic acid crashed and covered the river Seco in a thick white foam. In December, a bridge in northern Brazil collapsed sending lorries carrying thousands of liters of pesticides and sulphuric acid into the river below.
Throughout 2024, with the legacy of COVID-19 still fresh in the minds of many, mpox in Africa and elsewhere caused alarm. In August, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention officially declared the ongoing mpox outbreak a public health emergency of continental security.
Thailand hit the headlines in July 2024 after six people – four Vietnamese citizens and two U.S. citizens of Vietnamese descent – were found dead inside room 502 at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel in Bangkok. There were no screams, calls, or signs of struggle. Only teacups laced with cyanide. Thai police have suggested it was a case of murder-suicide.
In September in Rockdale County, GA, USA, a sprinkler head malfunction caused water to mix with a water-reactive chemical, producing a plume of toxic chemicals visible from up to 50km away. Residents were either evacuated or told to shelter in place to avoid toxic contaminants from the fire.
In November, in The Hague, the Netherlands, after years of speculation and accusations, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons finally confirmed that riot control agents have indeed been used against Ukrainian positions in contravention of Article I of the Chemical Weapons Convention. As Russia continues its senseless war of aggression against Ukraine, all fingers point to Vladimir Putin and his total disregard for the Convention to which Russia is a State Party.
And finally, in December, following the final fall of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime, many saw for the first time the vast chemical stockpiles and clandestine labs that turned Syria into a narco-state and polluted the Middle East with the highly addictive drug, Captagon.
One life lost to poor preparedness is one life too many, and it is incumbent on the entire nexus of government bodies and private entities to redouble their efforts in protecting citizens and warfighters alike against CBRNE threats. NCT Consultants will therefore remain unwavering in fulfilling its own, unique mission within the CBRNE community.
The NCT Team
NCT Consultants is a small but dedicated and dynamic group of people without whom the successes of last year would have been impossible. I would like to thank everyone at NCT Consultants – Anna, Daria, George, Pepe, Petar, Alan, Michele, Patrick, Vasilisa, Polina, Camille, and Yan – as well as our long-time associates BG (Ret.) William King and José Zea Agüero, for their hard work throughout 2024. I am looking forward to working with you in 2025 to make our world a safer and more secure place.
Ilja M. Bonsen is the Managing Director of NCT Consultants.
