NATO’s analysis organisation, the Science and Technology Organization (STO), has appointed a brand new head of its Collaboration Support Office (CSO). On 1 July, French Major General Patrick Aufort took up the submit, succeeding Norwegian John-Mikal Størdal after 5 years within the function. Aufort will lead the STO CSO for a three-year interval.
According to a press launch from the STO, Patrick Aufort joins from the French defence authority the Defence Innovation Agency (AID), the place he has served as director since 2023. Prior to that, he held a number of senior positions throughout the French defence procurement company DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement), together with tasks for aviation materiel, airborne command and management methods, and digital warfare.
As head of the STO CSO, Aufort might be liable for the organisation’s Collaborative Programme of Work (CPoW), which coordinates NATO’s joint analysis and know-how growth. He takes up the submit because the programme undergoes a restructuring to raised meet the longer term wants of the Alliance’s member nations.
“I am proud to join NATO’s Science and Technology Organization and its scientific network at a pivotal moment, and to contribute to making the STO a strategic asset within NATO for rapidly integrating scientific knowledge and adopting new technologies for the benefit of Alliance forces,” mentioned Patrick Aufort within the press release.
The outgoing CSO director, John-Mikal Størdal, wrote a guest column for Nordic Defence Sector in December 2025, during which he argued that science and know-how should change into a strategic precedence if NATO is to take care of its technological edge. He highlighted, amongst different issues, the necessity for elevated funding in rising applied sciences, quicker innovation processes, and nearer cooperation between allies to strengthen deterrence.