On May 3rd and 4th, 2011, at the Central Military Club building in Sofia, an international conference was held, entitled “Smart Defense and Security: Integrating an Effective Management by Using Joint Actions and Control”. The event was organized by The Atlantic Club of Bulgaria and the software companies IBM – Bulgaria and SAP – Bulgaria, with the special support of the Ministry of Defense and in co-operation with the U.S.  and German embassies in Sofia.

The conference was opened by the Bulgarian Minister of Defense H. E. Anyu Angelov; Susan Sutton, Deputy Chief of the Mission in the Embassy of the United States; Alexander Rakov, General Manager of IBM Bulgaria; Boytcho Dellevsky, Managing Director of  SAP Bulgaria; and Dr. Solomon Passy, President of ACB. The second day of the conference was opened by the Ambassador of Germany to Bulgaria, H. E. Matthias Hіpfner.

The conference comprised the following panels:

• IBM & SAP Alliance for Defense;
• A Vision for More Efficient Defense & Public Services
• How IBM Can Support the Bulgarian Defense Reform
• IBM Product and Services Portfolio Integrating Core Competencies for Defense
• Effective Management of Defense Resources in an Integrated System;
• Unified Armed Forces Logistics – Proven, Cost-Effective Solutions that Meet the Complex Needs of Defense and Security Organizations;
• Integration of Defense Resource Management and Command & Control Systems.
• Achieving Effective and Efficient Management with a Unified Integrated Human Capital Management System.

The representatives of IBM and SAP, who took part in the conference, were: Leendert van Bochoven, NATO & European Defense Leader, IBM; Michael Pittelkow, Head of Public Services, SAP EMEA; John McFadyen, General Manager, SAVI International; Sascha Siepe, Global Subject Matter Expert Defense Logistics, IBM GBS; and Werner Felger, Industry Director Defense, SAP EMEA.