GMSA Update

2009

June

NMCO hosts Interagency Information Sharing Workshop

When it comes to streamlining government, policy lags behind technology.

In an upcoming series of workshops, several of the agencies that manage America's maritime affairs will collaborate to develop a recommended interagency policy to enable government agencies to share information to reach the full potential of digital connectivity.

A wide range of agencies address maritime issues, from the threat of sea-borne terrorism, human and drug trafficking, and environmental protection, to the safety of boaters and mariners, predicting and responding to natural disasters and safeguarding the critical infrastructure that enables a global economy. However, no single agency can compile all the data required to monitor the maritime environment. By transforming policy to enable effective information sharing, these agencies can put the full range of data collected by the government at the fingertips of every agency that needs it while ensuring compliance with the statutes and regulations that protect privacy and civil liberties.

The workshops are organized by the Director of Global Maritime Situational Awareness, whose multi-agency office is responsible for developing shared access to interagency and international information to improve awareness of maritime factors that could impact the safety, security, economy and environment of the United States.

For more information, visit www.gmsa.gov/transform.

For media information, contact Chad Holmes at 202-372-3065, or email chad.b.holmes@uscg.mil.

April

NATIONAL MARITIME AWARENESS TECHNICAL SUBCOMMITTEE (NMATS) KICK-OFF

NMCO hosted a meeting kicking off the MDA Stakeholder Board's National Maritime Awareness Technical Subcommittee at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., March 3 and 4. NMATS is developing a data base of MDA projects and systems as a first step in building a clear and understandable picture of the current state of Maritime Domain Awareness technology, related research and development investment and execution strategies, as well as activities and programs addressing current, near-term MDA requirements, and cataloguing research efforts.

The subcommittee plans to compile into a single database the information used in developing previous key MDA studies in the U.S., including the Technical MDA Roadmap (2004-2005), the Data Fusion Study (2005), the Interagency Investment Strategy (IAIS) (2005-2006), and the US Navy N3/N5 Capabilities Based Assessment (CBA) (2007-2008). The database will be open to all users, but with pointers to information in external databases that will require specific permissions and/or clearance. A key feature of the database will be a registry of subject matter experts searchable by the systems on which they have expertise and/or by their fields of knowledge.

The effort will provide opportunities for meeting anticipated long-term needs in response to senior federal leadership, and develop best practices.

Participants in the kick-off meeting included representatives of OGMSA; the Office of Global Maritime and Air Intelligence Integration (GMAII); the Department of Homeland Security, including the Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) and the Coast Guard Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center Pacific (USCG MIFC-Pac); and the Department of Defense, including the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Networks and Information Integration (OSD/NII), US Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), the Office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans and Policy (OPNAV N3N5? ), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), and the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS).

NMATS maintained the momentum with a March 20th follow-up meeting hosted by ONR, the subcommittee co-chair, and attended by representatives of OGMSA, GMAII, DHS S&T, the Navy's Chief Information Officer (DON CIO), ONR, and NRL. The subcommittee refined its objectives and set out a plan to define a key customer base in order to drive database content and usability decisions. The committee also decided to use a wiki-type format in developing the inputs to enable stakeholders to ensure the completeness and accuracy of data related to their programs.

The next steps will be to define data field requirements, address resources, and meet with database managers to determine the feasibility of various options.

THE RECAAP INFORMATION SHARING CENTRE

NMCO is working with established fusion centers to blueprint their information collection and dissemination process for lessons learned and best practices, and to identify possible gaps in information sharing processes. As part of this effort, NMCO visited the ReCAAP? Information Sharing Centre (ISC) in Singapore recently.

ReCAAP? , the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia, is a "government-to-government agreement among Asian countries to prevent and suppress piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia," according to the ReCAAP? annual report. The agreement was finalized in 2004 and 14 nations are signatories.

The ReCAAP? ISC was established as an inter-governmental organization and platform for information exchange, to conduct analysis of piracy information, and to facilitate capacity-building to support the agreement. The center opened in November 2006 and provides an example of successful maritime information sharing among a coalition of states with a shared regional interest, and can serve as a model to guide other regions beset by related challenges.

The ISC partners with shipping companies, research institutions and other organizations to improve counter-piracy efforts.

The ISC information sharing and research processes are based on a system of ReCAAP? focal points comprised of a wide range of stakeholders from Marine Police and Search and Rescue Centers to Ministries of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, navies, and coast guards from the 14 participating nations.

Ships report incidents of piracy and armed robbery to the authorities of the nearest coastal state. These authorities manage the incident in accordance with their national policies and IMO guidelines, then share details of the reported incidents and subsequent investigations with the ISC through their ReCAAP? Focal Point.

The information goes to the ISC and the other Focal Points through ReCAAP? 's Information Network System (IFN), a secure Web-based system linking all the Focal Points to each other as well as the ISC.

Standards for ISC information sharing are taken from the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee Circular 622 Rev.1 Recommendations to Governments for Preventing and Suppressing Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships.

The ISC collates this information as well as open source materials, such as media reports, conducts analysis in coordination with partner organizations, and disseminates reports and alerts to its members.

ISC partners include the IMO's Maritime Safety Division as well as several industry bodies and research organizations, such as the:

• Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO)
• International Independent Tanker Owners' Organization (INTERTANKO)
• International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (INTERCARGO)
• International Chamber of Shipping (ICS)
• Asian Shipowners' Forum (SAF)
• Singapore Shipping Association (SSA)

NMCO briefed the ISC to the benefits of MSSIS participation and provided information on how the ReCAAP? member states can participate. Currently, India and Singapore are the only ReCAAP? members participating in MSSIS.

Additional information on the ReCAAP? ISC is available at www.recaap.org.

February

INTERAGENCY INVESTMENT STRATEGY (IAIS)

An NMCO draft charter for an IAIS subcommittee to advise the MDA Stakeholders Board on IAIS implementation will be presented to the Stakeholders Board February 26. The IAIS, developed in support of the National Plan to Achieve MDA, identified 15 high-priority gaps in Maritime Domain Awareness which could be addressed in the near term, generally within five years. The IAIS assigns responsibilities for closing each of those 15 gaps to a combination of seven agencies. The IAIS does not innumerate specific solutions against which individual agencies can align resources toward interagency efforts. The purpose of the subcommittee is to promote interagency coordination and collaboration in closing the 15 critical gaps outlined in the Interagency Investment Strategy (IAIS); Institutionalize MDA effort to transition the MDA Interagency Investment Strategy from a gap analysis to an interagency investment plan; and provide the Deputies with appropriate recommendations on the relative priority to be accorded to maritime issues so departments and agencies can make informed investment decisions.

NATIONAL MDA STAKEHOLDERS BOARD MEMBERSHIP

Two new members to the Stakeholders Board -- Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the National Maritime Intelligence Center (NMIC) -- participated in the January 29 Stakeholders Board general meeting. CBP is the lead agency for two of the five MDA Enterprise Hubs, facilitating information sharing regarding people and cargo among the global maritime community of interest (GMCOI). The NMIC, which stood up January 14, is a co-lead for the Vessel Hub, sharing responsibilities with the Coast Guard's Intelligence Coordination Center (ICC). The NMIC was established under Intelligence Community Directive 902 of January 12 as a national intelligence center for the integration of strategic maritime information.

HUB IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

The DHS MDA Executive Agent is collecting inputs from Enterprise Hub Leads and Information Sharing Subcommittee members on their revision to the draft Enterprise Hub Implementation Plan (HIP). The HIP aligns the efforts of the four Information Enterprise Hubs (Cargo, People, Infrastructure, and Vessels), eliminates redundancies and develops standardization where needed. The revised HIP will be submitted to the Stakeholders Board for approval.

MDA ARCHITECTURE MANAGEMENT HUB PLAN

The MDA Architecture Management Hub Plan (AMHP) (previously referred to as the Architecture Management Hub Strategy) was approved by the MDA Stakeholder Board January 29. The focus teams identified in the plan stood up with staffing from the office of the Navy's Chief Information Officer (DON CIO), NMCO and GMAII, as well as a representative from most agencies with a stake in the MDA Architecture. Although the focus teams remain understaffed, they will proceed with developing detailed plans for the road ahead.

MARITIME SAFETY AND SECURITY INFORMATION SYSTEM (MSSIS)

Fifty-six states are now participating in MSSIS, and another 15 states have systems under construction or membership pending. India and the Republic of Seychelles are the latest states to join the network. The US departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, and Defense, and NATO met February 6 to review a draft MSSIS Governance Board Charter. The Charter would establish an international governance board to manage MSSIS. NMCO legal counsel is coordinating input from counsels for the departments of Defense, Transportation, Homeland Security and NATO.

IALA.NET

To promote widest participation in global AIS data sharing, NMCO proposed an MSSIS-like network to the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA). IALA developed IALA.NET, combining feeds from MSSIS and similar networks to enable safety statistic analysis and develop safer transits. IALA.NET is only available to IMO-recognized AIS competent authorities of each of the 160 IALA-participating nations. Of the 17 countries applying for access so far; four are online, six are pending user agreements, and seven requests were denied as they did not come from the AIS competent authorities for their nations. China, who recently joined the IALA.NET Steering Committee, expressed an interest in contributing their AIS data to and providing regional servers for IALA.NET.

January

MARITIME AWARENESS WIKI.

NMCO launched a Maritime Awareness Wiki to provide the GMCOI a collaboration tool to develop the MDA body of knowledge. All visitors can access general MDA information at www.gmsa.gov/twiki. Contributors must register through NMCO before adding or changing pages. DOT is providing the server space.

CATALOGING MARITIME DATA.

The DOD MDA Executive Agent (EA) is inventorying and cataloging DOD's data bases and information sources that contribute to achieving MDA. DOD intends to use an online collection tool incorporating guidelines developed by OGMSA. The DOT MDA EA offered the use of MARVIEW, MARAD's online Maritime community, to host this effort. OGMSA, as the MDA Enterprise Hub Administrator, is coordinating a consolidated MDA data call on behalf of the Cargo, People, Vessel, and Infrastructure Enterprise Hubs tasked by the MDA CONOPS with this activity, and will incorporate the results of DOD's inventory. NMCO will work with DOD to assess lessons learned and apply them to expanding the effort to the US federal interagency community, working through the MDA Stakeholder Board (SBH) Information Sharing Sub-Committee (ISSC).

SINGLE WEB PORTAL.

The ISSC fielded an interagency writing team to prepare an information paper with regard to a single Web portal to access all current MDA data sources. Using the Maritime Awareness Wiki as a collaboration space, the writing team is developing the paper for presentation to the MDA SHB Executive Steering Committee (ESC) for approval and alignment of resources. The portal provides a single address and access point through which users may interact with MDA knowledge managers for cargo, people, vessels and maritime infrastructure, and upon request, be directed to data providers. The portal would support Hub lead collaboration to address Hub core functions,and the development of the following:

• standards for requesting information and processing RFIs
• data terminology semantics and metadata tagging
• attributes-based access control protocols
• information sharing dispute resolution interagency protocols.

NMCO drafted the paper and is coordinating input from the writing team. The paper outlines cost estimates for portal providers by various CIOs (DOD, DHS, DOT). DOT's MARVIEW server is the leading candidate for hosting the portal.

2008

December

RELATIONSHIPS

NMCO forwarded the final report from last year's Global Maritime Information Sharing Symposium (GMISS) for review by US Government participants and the MDA Stakeholders Board Executive Steering Committee in preparation for general release. Following up on a successful partnership with the Department of Justice during last year's GMISS, NMCO met with Justice to discuss ongoing initiatives and begin planning for next year's GMISS.

Representatives from NMCO participated in the Seventh Annual Maritime Security Expo November 18 and 19 in Long Beach, Calif. NMCO's CAPT George McCarthy? provided a keynote address on US Government initiatives to develop maritime awareness through partnerships across governments and with the maritime industry (watch online at http://tinyurl.com/5ahm4t). NMCO Chief of Staff Lennis Fludd co-presented a seminar on the Maritime Information Sharing Taskforce (MIST). The Expo drew more than 3,500 attendees from 46 countries and 200 exhibiting companies.

NMCO participated in the 6th annual ExpoNaval? in Valparaiso, Chile December 2nd through 5th. The maritime exposition and International Conference of Naval and Maritime Defense for Latin America is the largest such event in the region. (See related article below)

NMCO engaged the global maritime community interest to expand participation in information sharing, including MSSIS, by briefing or meeting with:

• personnel from Australian Transportation on maritime information sharing initiatives
• the Department of State South African desk officer
• Defense attachés for Estonia and Azerbaijan
• representatives from the Republic of the Philippines

Members of NMCO also participated in:

• the Global AIS and Data Exfiltration International Satellite Constellation (GLADIS) Workshop at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)
• a Maritime Security Working Group meeting to address piracy
• an East-West Center seminar on Timor-Leste
• incoming attaché's brief at the Pentagon

NMCO coordinated meetings of:

• the MDA Stakeholder Board
• the MDA Stakeholder Board Executive Steering Committee

POLICY

In order to monitor MDA effectiveness and the implementation of MDA policies, NMCO is integrating stakeholder input in the ongoing development of metrics. NMCO incorporated feedback from the National MDA Stakeholders Board Executive Steering Committee in developing an assessment tool for implementation of the National MDA Interagency Investment Strategy (IAIS) and presented it to the Stakeholders Board December 4.

NMCO prepared a position paper, course of action and timeline for developing interagency information-sharing dispute resolution protocols. The office of the Program Management for the Information Sharing Environment ( www.ise.gov) is taking the lead on development with NMCO support and coordination of maritime stakeholders. NMCO coordinated with OSD, Navy and Maritime Administration legal experts.

In support of the Maritime Administration, NMCO presented to the National MDA Stakeholders Board a proposed MSSIS International Governance Board Charter. NMCO is coordinating interagency review and comments.

NMCO participated in an interagency working group reviewing DHS's Small Vessel Security Strategy ( http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/small-vessel-security-strategy.pdf) to improve the strategy's alignment with existing MDA policies and interagency objectives.

TECHNOLOGY

The National MDA Stakeholder Board's Information Sharing Subcommittee (ISSC) identified subject matter experts to work with NMCO developing a position paper identifying costs and required resources for developing a single web portal providing access to sources of maritime information and data available within the GMCOI.

NMCO is coordinating interagency input on the Navy Chief Information Officer's Architecture Management Hub Strategy.

NMCO also participated in or attended:

• Non-Classified Enclave weekly teleconferences
• the Air Force IT Expo

-- ChadHolmes - 23 Jan 2009