Operational analyst Camilla Andersson is one of the experts at FOI who are working on finding methods of creating for their customers as good a basis as possible for decision making. This work covers the process right through from development to implementation.

Name: Camilla Andersson Job title: Research leader in FOI’s Defence Analysis Division Age: 35 Leisure interests: Plant cultivation, kayaking Unexpected talent: Skilful knitter

The Swedish Armed Forces, Camilla Andersson’s largest customer, make use of her skills when they want to evaluate important factors prior to making major decisions – such as important purchases involving the use of new technology or how to make the best use of a particular unit. A key part of the job is to assign the right weighting to the various factors involved.

“One needs to know how the customer values various properties if the basis for decision making is to be as good as possible. One learns this by working close to the customer and gaining an overall understanding of the activities involved.”
But just as important as purchasing the right equipment, or developing effective methods, is ensuring that these are used in an optimal way. Camilla Andersson’s aim is therefore to be closely involved in all phases in order to be able to evaluate the implementation, primarily of new methods.

“It is significantly more difficult to implement a new method than a new technology. A method is difficult to formalise and there are no handbooks. Instead it is all about creating involvement and a good learning environment.”

One of her best tools of the trade is to use scenarios and gaming.
“It is a creative method which requires people to participate and interact and which gives a good picture of whether something is working in a realistic situation.”
At present Camilla Andersson is working on two major projects. One project entails providing support for the planning for the EU’s mainly Swedish unit known as the Nordic Battlegroup (NBG-11) which is due to be made available to the EU from 2011. This work involves gaming as an aid to analysing when different parts of the unit should be inserted into the operational area and the quickest way of getting the unit to the scene of the action with the right equipment. In the second project she is looking at how Sweden might improve its way of dealing with “unconventional threats”, principally improvised explosive devices such as terrorist weapons.

According to Camilla Andersson it is the breadth of FOI’s organisation which makes the agency such an attractive collaborative partner.
“There is a great deal of knowledge and expertise at FOI. I have worked on many technical problems and I have an extensive network to which I can turn. We are also good at working close to our customers.”
She sees many potential customers for the expertise in operational analysis that she and her colleagues possess.

But above all, these are the larger organisations in the public sector which have to make complex decisions and which need help in analysing problems from many different perspectives, not simply the financial aspects. There is an urgent need for analysis which makes it possible to predict which are the factors underlying a particular decision.

Camilla Andersson grew up in Åkersberga, a residential and leisure area on the coast some 30 km northeast of Stockholm. She has a Masters degree in physics from Stockholm University as well as an MSc from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. She has worked at FOI since 1997
“I wanted to be a generalist working with a broad approach and that is what I can do here. I get many enjoyable assignments involving work in a wide range of new areas.”