GMISS 08 Summary Report

Tab 4: GMISS Summary Minutes

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Global Maritime Information Sharing Symposium

Notes from presentations and discussions

The views expressed in the symposium and in this summary are solely those of individual experts who attended the symposium, and do not necessarily reflect the analysis, views, or opinions of any individual speaker, company, consortium or U.S. government agency.

Table of Contents

Plenary Sessions

Welcome and Host Introductions

RDML Lee Metcalf, Director OGMSA

RDML Metcalf explained the purpose of the conference as bringing unity of effort over time between government and industry to move information sharing forward. He pointed out that GMISS is about commerce: that it will address maritime safety, security, and environmental protection, but specifically it is about harnessing the assembled experience talent and knowledge to explore how gathering data toward those ends impacts the commercial industry and waterborne trade. According to RDML Metcalf, "We must achieve security, but also understand the impact on the commercial world."

RDML Metcalf told participants:

• What GMISS is trying to accomplish is not unique: that information sharing is being used in other areas to great effect and that participants need to find opportunities to make it work in the maritime domain by identifying barriers and developing solutions.
• The MDA Stakeholder board is a unifying device to produce a more cohesive government information sharing effort. Each agency is reaching out on its own to industry and while GMISS is not intended to supplant that, participants must find a way to get ahead of the power curve using the MDA Stakeholders Board to align these efforts.
• GMISS is a working session, teeing up a whole year of effort and initiatives. OGMSA is putting staff members into every breakout session and working group and will work the developed issues over the next year, reporting results at the next year's GMISS.

RDML Metcalf suggested that establishing maritime information sharing was like moving a mountain, but that the assembled talent and energy could move that mountain even if they had to do so stone by stone, and pointed out that opportunities could be found in the process, as even stones can be used as ballast on a difficult journey.

Mr. Sean Connaughton, US Maritime Administrator

Mr. Connaughton reminded participants that because trade is growing, the need for ships is growing and the jobs they are doing today will become more complicated and more essential over time. He pointed out that seaborne trade is integral to US economy: 90 percent of US foreign trade moves by ship and while 20 percent of US GDP is currently international trade, by 2030, 40 percent will be.

The Maritime Administrator also pointed out that there is a wide-spread misconception that terrorism it the entire maritime threat, but that illegal goods trafficking, pilferage, piracy, and human trafficking also pose related threats. He also told the symposium that, although the focus is often on vessels coming into the US, other nations are also concerned about illegal good coming from the US. He explained that the same efforts directed toward combating terrorism can also address the day to day issues that have an ongoing impact on industry.

Mr. Connaughton remarked that he had been to many MDA conferences where the progress ended when the conference ended, but observed that GMISS is different, stating that it provided the opportunity to identify and enact win-win solutions that address security and the criminal activities that negatively impact the industry.

As an example, Mr. Connaughton pointed to 100 percent cargo screening, explaining that in the locations it is in effect, customers are becoming more honest about what is in containers, which pays dividends for carriers who now get paid more accurate rates, boosting their bottom lines.

The Maritime Administrator concluded by telling the symposium participants that the US first line of defense is not DHS or DOD, but the people booking and checking in cargo. "Our challenge," he said "is finding out how to empower those people and leverage their ability to make a difference."

Mr. Carl Peed, Director Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services

Mr. Peed echoed Mr. Connaughton's observation that while he had been to many conferences and symposia, GMISS was a unique and novel concept, not like any he had seen.

Director Peed highlighted examples of successful information sharing initiatives outside the maritime community of interest, and drew on several examples of local law enforcement making routine traffic stops and discovering a much larger problem brewing. He contrasted that with examples in which local law enforcement didn't have information they could have used to prevent something larger, including various revelations after 9-11 that several of the hijackers had previously been stopped by local police for traffic violations.

According to Mr. Peed, information is now being widely shared throughout justice and law enforcement community and DOJ has played a role in facilitating that sharing, including COPS work with fusion centers, and specifically the Seahawk task force. He said his office is looking forward to using the relationships they've already developed and the lessons they've already learned regarding developing information sharing to help the maritime community get up to speed.

The International Shipping Viewpoint

Mr. Steve Carmel, Vice President Maritime Services, Maersk Line Ltd.

Mr. Carmel began his remarks by highlighting the importance of the issues being addressed at GMISS, indicating that he was encouraged by the energy of government and private industry working together. "This is something I've been hoping for a long time," he added.

Mr. Carmel addressed three main points: balance, structure, and organization.

On the topic of balance, Mr. Carmel said the importance of what was being doing at GMISS was undisputed. "Getting it right is important," he said. "Getting it wrong would be catastrophic."

According to Mr. Carmel, there are a two different things that could go wrong.

The first is that "the bad guys" smuggle a weapon of mass destruction into the US and use it. Mr. Carmel predicted that event would redefine the American psyche and change the way the US deals with rest of the world. "We would wrap ourselves in a regulatory cocoon," he said. Although the US would recover from the physical damage, he said the regulatory change would live on for years afterwards. "That's what terrorists want," he explained, saying that the US is a very powerful country militarily and economically, so antagonists want to get the US to "hurt ourselves."

However, according to Mr. Carmel, the second is that "the bad guys" get the US to make those changes without even achieving a successful attack; a danger he says is real, saying this war is unlike previous wars because what defines winning and losing is different. "The bad guys can win in their longer strategic objectives even if we win the immediate battles," he explained.

Mr. Carmel called this area of ambiguity where "we lose by winning and they win by losing" a significant battle space with room for maneuverability on the part of extremists. "What we need to search for at those things that are unambiguously good for us and bad for the bad guys," he said, recommending not being willing to be pushed into that ambiguous space.

Regarding structure, Mr. Carmel said:

• Shippers carry ballast because they have to, but that it displaces paying cargo. "We don't want to carry more than we need to," he said, referring to RDML Metcalf's opening remarks.
• The current maritime regulation scheme evolved as an economic undertaking, framed under the assumption that the industry was the bad guys the government had to regulate. Actors respond to economic levers, but trade as a security process is very different from trade as economic process, with the first motivated by different levers than second. There is much about working together, but the required level of trust is impacted by the old regulatory regime that dealt with the maritime industry as "the bad guys."
• Win-win really needs to be win-win, not the current carrot and stick approach. The government repeatedly says it is going to do away with the "stick" and give incentives for the industry to cooperate. This shows a continued lack of trust by the government because it assumes the industry has to be given incentives to do the right thing. Furthermore, what the government offers are not even real incentives. For example, government tells the industry, "if you do what we want, you will not be subject to onerous boarding procedures." That's a promise to not use "the stick" on industry, not a genuine incentive. Instead, government needs to show industry how changes will them do things faster, better, or cheaper.

Regarding organization, Mr. Carmel said success requires a single lead authority for the national strategy for MDA, through whom everyone can work in order to avoid the zone of ambiguity. He gave the example of different people from the same company being invited separately to the same conferences, and of being invited to several related MDA conferences at the same time.

In addition to an MDA czar, Mr. Carmel suggested there must be a single lead authority for international outreach, as well, citing an example the potential of an agency taking steps to improve MDA in the US only to cause a foreign nation to impose sanctions. According to Mr. Carmel, maritime security is currently in the zone of ambiguity that allows antagonists to play each country's security apparatuses of each other.

Mr. Carmel said that industry efforts were even more fractured than those of the government, requiring someone to provide one voice for industry to overcome parochial interests. Because of competing interests and a lack of knowledge of the entire industry by any individual organization, Mr. Carmel suggested a government agency may be best suited to the task.

Mr. Carmel concluded by likening current MDA efforts to hundreds of gerbils on hundreds of wheels and reiterated that the consequences of not getting it right are too big to ignore.

National Security and the Private Sector

Ambassador Thomas McNamara? , Program Manager, Information Sharing Environment

Ambassador McNamara? said he was struck by the number conferences declared as the first of a series and hoped GMISS will be a successful series because it is so important. He added that a lot of effort has been expended on the air environment and that the maritime environment deserves at least as much attention.

The ambassador addressed three main points:

• What government does is supposed to translate into how private sector does its job.
• The US Government has made enormous advances in info sharing.
• More remains to be done than has been done.

Ambassador McNamara? pointed out that information sharing is a trusted partnership across government, with commercial sector, and internationally. He added that it is essential to ensure information is shared with those entitled to receive it and need the information, and that it is enormously complex to turn that into reality.

The ISE Program Manager explained that there are five national security communities that need to enter into the information sharing environment to improve national security and make world safer:

• Intelligence
• Law Enforcement
• Defense
• Homeland Security, and
• Foreign Affairs

The ambassador used his credit card as an example of a successful information sharing environment, saying every time he puts it into an ATM or hands it to a clerk, he enters an information sharing environment. He explained that he gets the information he needs about the status of his account; the tellers gets the information they need, and no more; branch manager and corresponding organization get what they need, and it works every minute of every day globally -- that everyone trusts that it will work the way it is supposed to.

Ambassador McNamara? pointed out that most of those environments are in the private sector and that government is way behind, having not fully established an information sharing environment. He said government has communities of interest implement, but has nothing on the scale of the private sector.

According to the ambassador, the technology already exists and changing culture is the biggest challenge. He stressed that "need to know" must be overcome by "responsibility to provide."

• Responsibility extends beyond giving up information when other users come looking for it, to a responsibility to identify those who need it and providing it to them without being asked.
• Change must to be addressed at all levels to make it an institutional reality, particularly requiring mid-level leadership because that's where most of the action takes place.
• Leadership is essential to change the fundamental way government views information.

He likened that responsibility to that of a bank teller to move financial information to those who need it for the transaction to be completed.

Ambassador McNamara? praised the new generation entering government and the private sector as already native to information sharing, and referred to the older generation as digital immigrants who can develop the culture and understanding, but needing extra time to do so.

According to the ambassador, information sharing at its essence is a matter of standardization, rationalization and harmonization. In human-to-human interaction, standardization helps, but is not critical, but when it comes to the technological transfer of data, standardization, rationalization and harmonization are essential.

As an example of successful information sharing, the ambassador highlighted the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), a fusion center in which information from a wide range of sources is brought together to ensure all government agencies have access to the information they need to execute their missions as defined. Information is shared not just across the federal government, but also to state and local levels, which the ambassador pointed out, did not happen prior to 9/11. He also praised the development of the Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination Group (ITACG) within the NCTC at which state and local representatives monitor the information at the NCTC and push forwarded the types of data needed by state and local officials. He stressed that the federal government must understand that national defense depends on state, local, and private sector partners.

Ambassador McNamara? pointed out that the maritime domain is beginning to reap the benefits of information sharing in the form of state and urban-area fusion centers, of which he said:

• There are now 50 around the United States.
• They are not just for counterterrorism: there are all-crimes and all-hazards fusion centers.
• They are linked into the NCTC so data flows both ways.
• They are not yet linked to each other nationally, but that region networks exist.
• They will all eventually be linked to created a single network of fusion centers.
• They form a critical component of national security.

He said that fusion centers are waiting to be used by the maritime community for information to be shared, both within the government and with the private sector. One application he highlighted is integration of significant instances of suspicious activity reporting through fusion centers in a controlled fashion that protects privacy and civil liberties and allows recognition of trends and can indicate a threat.

Among the priorities the ambassador highlighted for information sharing to succeed were:

• The need to overcome interagency personnel security clearance limitations: information gets held up because a potential recipient holds a top secret clearance from the wrong agency of the same government.
• The need to standardize guidelines and information to common practices and standards everyone can adhere to.
• The need to maintain strong commitment to preserving information privacy, and privacy issues.
• The need to overcome the government's delusion that it can and must achieve zero risk and adopt models that identify and manage risk.

Ambassador McNamara? points out that information will be better controlled in a digital information sharing environment than it is now because it is currently passed human to human which limits the controls that can be imposed. He illustrated his point with the example of records of improper email and use of email in criminal prosecutions as opposed to phone call to work out details on information transfer with no record of what was said.

The ambassador concluded by stressing the importance of the work being performed at GMISS to maritime information sharing. He offered the assistance of the Information Sharing Environment to make it happen, and asked participants to support RDML Metcalf and his office in making it come together.

Bulk Shipping Viewpoint

Mr. Philip Shapiro, President and CEO, Liberty Maritime Corporation

Mr. Shapiro stated the importance of global maritime information sharing, and stated that the threats of terrorism, organized crime, piracy, trafficking, and dirty or nuclear bombs constitute the largest threat to the United States. However, he added that the United States cannot impose its own rules and regulations onto global trade. He added that the US cannot dictate to rest of world what their security and information sharing systems should look like. He pointed out that security does not start at the US borders - it starts before the cargo is loaded.

Mr. Shapiro highlighted the need for constant and full time monitoring from prior to load port to discharge through an international program that will spread costs and reduce burdens. He said the US must work with rest of free world as the only way to protect its ports and make world safer for people worldwide.

Mr. Shapiro explained that a fraction of what is spent on airport security is spent on port security in the US and that US ports are not as safe as those in many foreign nations. He told participants that undeveloped ports in Africa and Asia often have security on par with those in Europe and better than those in the US. He gave the example that anyone traveling along the Mississippi can pull off the road and walk onto a bulk loading dock, but that in other countries, one cannot do that because the military provides security. He said the US needs to focus not just on international trade ports, but those for internal shipping as well.

Mr. Shapiro stated a need to address the continuous flow of commerce with minimal delays. The free flow of commerce is essential to freedom of every nation, he said and delays have ramifications beyond immediate ports.

He identified a need for an international global information system to ensure the safety of all nations that depend on commerce. He said it must be created among all nations and that all nations should claim ownership.

Mr. Shapiro called GMISS a wonderful first step toward the private sector partnering with government. He suggested that government be entrusted with developing the system and that industry stand ready to help.

US Navy Fleet Forces Command Viewpoint

RADM Mark Buzby, USFFC Operations, Plans and Policies

RADM Buzby began by pointing out that people continue coming to MDA commercial outreach conferences despite their consistent critiques of too many events in which not enough was accomplished, demonstrating a high degree of interest in succeeding and a common understanding that progress is essential. He identified GMISS as having to potential to move efforts forward. Suggesting a healthy tension has existed between merchant fleet and Navy since days of John Paul Jones, he expressed his hope that GMISS would bring the two entities closers.

RADM Buzby explained the history and mission of Fleet Forces Command, defined MDA, and briefed the key elements of the Navy's MDA strategy and efforts. He indicated that full implementation was expected to take approximately eight more years, but that the Navy was accelerating to get past barriers and forums like GMISS help the Navy better understand industry's perspective and therefore improve Navy efforts.

RADM Buzby explained that the Navy concept of operations for MDA was to look for the best ways to align, not to encroach, offering the US Navy's longstanding cooperation with other navies as an example. He offered that the thousand ship navy concept includes only 282 active ships in the US Navy so international cooperation is necessary. Two key jobs, he said, were training the fleet to cooperate with other navies, and coordinating efforts across all fleets and with appropriate US government agencies.

The admiral reminded symposium participants of navies' historic role of keeping sea lands open for commerce: "commerce craves security." He pointed to the three ships under the control of Somali pirates as he spoke as an example of the need for navies to work together to safeguard the maritime commons.

In addition, RADM Buzby told symposium participants the US Navy:

• wants to be sensitive to market drivers and needs the input of the industry to be so
• increasingly needs to divide its responsibilities between blue water and the littorals
• requires MDA for missions beyond traditional security roles, including humanitarian relief, such as escorting ships and operations aboard USNS Comfort
• needs to understand how to operational information sharing at operational level, and not just dump it ship drivers: "go do MDA, let us know when you have it done."

According to RADM Buzby, the US Navy's information sharing efforts are still regionally focused and not yet global, but the Navy is anxious to grow global maritime information sharing capabilities. However, he said, the Navy does not want to be "the 10,000 pound gorilla muscling you out of the way and just grabbing it." He said the Navy is very aware of concerns along those lines. RADM Buzby also pointed out that the Navy needs a full scope of MDA to accomplish its mission, but is conscious of needing to identify what information it needs and what info it does not.

Addressing the Africa Partnership Station, the admiral explained ongoing efforts to teach nations without a strong maritime heritage how to close their territorial waters to pirates who pray on shipping and control their fisheries. He gave the example of a nation that loses as much in illegal fishing in its territorial waters each year as it receives in international aid and made the economic case for teaching them to control those maritime resources.

RADM Buzby also explained that the Naval Cooperation and Guidance for Shipping (NCAGS) program resides in Fleet Forces Command and provides reach into every navy in the world through 200 professionals with specific expertise to ensure the Navy knows the location of merchant ships "so when we pull the trigger, we're going after the right guys."

Providing a wide range of additional examples of US Navy cooperation with other navies and industry, RADM Buzby reiterated that true global maritime information sharing was not easy, and that the US Navy was only two years into its ten-year plan. However, he made the case that the technology existed already and policies and impetus were needed to move forward. He cited a need to decrease classification and build trust, and pointed out that if aviation information can be shared worldwide, it can be done for traffic on the surface of the ocean, urging participants to "change our paradigm and get on with it."

The Admiral informed participants that Fleet Forces Command is formalizing MDA and building it into their headquarters capabilities.

He echoed Mr. Carmel's call for one person to be authorized to coordinate efforts.

Military Sealift Command Viewpoint

RADM Robert Reilly, Commander Military Sealift Command

RADM Reilly pointed out that most attendees were already running wireless networks on their home computers so they are already in the network management and security management business.

He reminded symposium participants that the Navy has a responsibility to keep commercial shipping safe on the sea and assured them that maritime information sharing was the future of the MSC, the larger Navy, and the shipping industry. He added that it was already in progress and could not be stopped. In addressing the question of whether the government could be trusted with the data, he gave the examples of Easy Pass systems in which they trust the state to debit their accounts.

RADM Reilly provided an overview of the Military Sealift Command and pointed out that MSC was a major contributor to the Navy's maritime strategy because its ships travel to such diverse locations. He added the example of the good will delivered by USNS Mercy.

Next, RADM Reilly traced the development of MDA from 145 years ago, when MDA consisted of a long glass or monocular on each vessel, through radar scopes and grease pencils, to the Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) in which contacts are entered manually.

To illustrate the importance of improving MDA, he pointed to the emergence of anti-ship cruise missiles that travel hundreds of miles, and the need to know where the merchant ships are before launching.

The admiral also gave the example of the fire that sank the Achille Lauro in 1994, despite the fact that two US Navy ships had passed nearby and could have rendered assistance had they known the situation.

RADM Reilly also highlighted possible improvements to the current Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS).

He contrasted that with the air traffic control system. Although word failed to make it from air traffic controllers to NORAD when three of the four planes hijacked on 9/11 turned off their IFF, the controllers were able to use an information sharing system to quckly land every aircraft at the nearly location. RADM Reilly said information sharing could provide similar capabilities to the maritime industry.

The admiral said IFF is needed for ships, and AIS is great start. He said the Navy wanted commercial shippers to tell the Navy where they were because that was more effective than a Sailor trying to track them on radar.

RADM Reilly told the symposium that USNS Pathfinder was involved in a pilot program to tap into AIS by using a laptop and satellite phone to connect to MSSIS, and pointed out increased maritime picture that can be built by connecting all MSC ships to MSSIS.

Synergy Across US Government Commercial Outreach Efforts

Mr. Gary Seffel, Deputy Director OGMSA

Mr. Seffel identified a complex regulatory environment as an obstacle to developing synergy, but called GMISS a first step to resolving it. He identified GMISS as a follow up to a series of other meetings, including the Global Supply Chain conference run by GMAII, and an effort to bring cohesion to outreach to the maritime industry.

OGMSA's deputy explained the difference between OGMSA's and GMAII's missions, saying GMAII is primarily security, while OGMSA's role is wider, encompassing safety, the environment, and commerce.

Mr. Seffel admitted that various agencies do not always know what other agencies are doing, but that all understand that planned or unplanned disruptions to a just in time economy can do significant damage measured in hundreds or millions or billions of dollars in damage.

Mr. Seffel reviewed the results of the GMAII Global Supply Chain Conference (see appendix X). Key points included:

• The importance of letting the maritime industry know what the threat is,
• Industry knows better than government what normal is,
• We're spending a lot of effort identifying what is an anomaly in the maritime domain, but there is no consensus on the best way to do that,
• There are many opinions on the best mechanisms to be used,
• The Department of State already operates the Overseas Advisory Council to provide information to US companies operating overseas,
• Participation in information sharing should be voluntary,
• Clearer information standards lead to a more efficient provision of data.

Mr. Seffel explained that one of OGMSA's jobs is moving those clearer standards forward, and that there are organizations doing a great job leading that effort for vessels, cargo, infrastructure, and people, but which are still embryonic.

He also drew attention to the importance of confidence in the quality of information, the protection of the identities of information providers, and the protection of proprietary information. Another concern Mr. Seffel pointed out was how to deal with information sharing with entities not owned by US citizens.

Mr. Seffel gave examples of barriers to information sharing that are not bad, such a privacy rights and civil rights, but said most barriers are rooted in culture or policy and few were based on technology.

Another concern voiced at the Global Supply Chain conference was the treat ment of foreign seamen, which is most seamen, post 9/11, which leads to suspicious and antagonism, and that those sailors can be viewed as part of the solution instead of the problem. Mr. Seffel said that was being relayed to the regulatory agencies.

Excessive information demands that lead to resistance and a lack of cooperation also surfaced as a problem at the global Supply Chain conference. To address this, Mr. Seffel said, the government can use industry's cooperation. He informed participants that the Maritime Administration, as an executive agent of the MDA Stakeholder Board leading the Board's commercial outreach working group, is trying to reduce burdens. According to Mr. Seffel, government agencies often do not even know who else is asking for the information.

One of the most important points made at the conference, Mr. Seffel said, was the pressing need to have the US government speak with one voice, particularly when it comes to security. He added that OGMSA is not that voice, but that it is working to build that consistency. He added the Global Supply Chain conference participants had made their point that when many voices are speaking, it is difficult to have confidence that any one of them are authoritative.

Global Maritime Situational Awareness

RDML Lee Metcalf, Director OGMSA

RDML Metcalf informed attendees that they should consider five questions during the course of the symposium:

• How can the US government be more coherent in its approach to industry?
• What should be the model for information sharing between the US government and the maritime industry?
• What are the unexploited maritime information sharing opportunities that will benefit the flow of commerce and help trade?
• How do we leverage the National Strategy for Maritime Domain Awareness to further these efforts?
• Is there value in continuing an annual conference such as GMISS as the center of focus for issues and innovations?

The admiral explained that OGMSA is a national-level interagency office with the fundamental objective of creating unity of effort across the U.S. government with the purpose of facilitating effective access to maritime information and data critical to building the situational awareness component of global MDA. He said OGMSA's mission is to facilitate the creation of a collaborative global maritime information-sharing environment through unity of effort across entities with maritime interests.

RDML Metcalf outlined the development of OGMSA as originating with Presidential directives NSPC-41/HSPC-13 which established the Maritime Security Policy Coordination Committee and drove the US National Strategy for Maritime Security ensuring not only maritime security but also safety, environment and commerce. He pointed out that the NSMS is supported by eight plans, including the Global Maritime Intelligence Integration Plan, which drove the creation of the Global Maritime and Air Intelligence Integration office, and the National Plan to Achieve Maritime Domain Awareness, which prompted the National Concept of Operations for Maritime Domain Awareness. RDML Metcalf explained that the National MDA CONOPS created OGMSA and named the directors of GMAII and OGMSA as co-chairs of the National Maritime Domain Awareness Stakeholder Board. He told symposium participants that GMAII and OGMSA both are tasked with addressing policy issues that impact information sharing, but that while GMAII ensured the intelligence community had all the information it needed, OGMSA existed to ensure all US government agencies had all the maritime information they needed.

RDML Metcalf explained that the Global Maritime Information Sharing Symposium was being conducted under the National MDA Stakeholders Board, which focuses on optimizing and guiding information sharing and the development of capabilities related to the key function aspects of MDA. The admiral outlined the board's membership, including the function of the executive agents, which include the Maritime Administration for the Department of Transportation, the Coast Guard for the Department of Homeland Security, and the Navy for the Department of Defense. He also explained that the board includes several working groups, including a Private Sector Outreach working group led by the Maritime Administration which is attempting to form a more cohesive US government effort to work with the maritime industry.

Open Maritime Data Sharing

ADM Harry Ulrich, USN (Ret.), Executive Vice President International Security Affairs Practice, Enterra Solutions

ADM Ulrich shared the evolution of his interest in developing information sharing to build maritime domain awareness. First, when his credit card was rejected at a restaurant, he learned that there are algorithms built into the financial information sharing system that protect customers from misuse of their information. Then, he was struck by his ability to use that same system to conduct transactions in the most remote of locations on the globe. He noted that globalization is built on trust, but wanted to know more about how it happened.

According to the former commander of US Naval Forces, Europe, we share information to survive and progress. People make money on information sharing, but also we do it to survive. He gave the example of the outbreak of Avian Bird Flu when people worked together to share information they wouldn't normally share to survive. He also pointed out that stock exchanges are about information sharing that's regulated. In the field of weather forecasting, he pointed out that symposium participants in New York knew the current position of Hurricane Faye because for decades, people have constantly taken weather observations and shard them through a database run by US Navy. He added that Cuba was sharing weather data on Faye so everyone could keep track of where the storm was.

While serving as Commander US Naval Forces Europe, the admiral said, he found that his command Air Operations Center could monitor the air picture 24/7, tracking 7,000 airplanes at any given minute to within 50 feet of their actual locations, knowing who was on each aircraft, and what cargo it carried. His staff was able to give those aircraft directions on where to go, and if they didn't do what they were expected to do, they had a fighter on their tail.

ADM Ulrich relayed the story of going through the airport and having to have his shoes X-rays, and coming to the realization that Italy ships containers full of shoes to the US by sea all the time and nobody scans them, but he was going through the airport and his one set of shoes had to get X-rayed.

He went to his command center for maritime traffic and compared it to his Air Operations Center. It was tracking 66 ships. He asked how many others were out there and his staff couldn't tell him. It struck him, he said, that planes are small, fast, and move in three dimensions but he had info on all 7,000 of them while ships big, slow, and moved in only two dimensions, only we could only keep track of 66 of them.

ADM Ulrich said that was when he decided to track them. However, he related that his experts said it would take millions of dollars and eight years, which he said was not acceptable. He said he called in his junior staff members and asked them. The next day, they told him about the Volpe Center, which developed the systems that track the aircraft. He said he called them and they said they could get it done by next Tuesday for $200,000 and delivered MSSIS.

As COMNAVEUR, ADM Ulrich said his job was to make sure nothing bad happened to us from the sea and added that was what GMISS participants were gathered for, as well. He explained that:

• There are many bad things that happen on the sea, and many people are responsible for stopping them, but when everybody is in charge, nobody is in charge.
• Collaborative solutions are needed between governments and business -- if they can do it in banking and Air Traffic Control, we can do it at sea.
• West African countries lose $1b per year to illegal shipping and we give them $1b per year in aid when we could just help them police their exclusive economic zones.

In pursuing MSSIS, ADM Ulrich said he started building the system by asking the Italians, where he was based, if they would provide their AIS data if he provided his and they agreed. In the next three years they went from being able to track 66 ships in the Mediterranean to tracking between 15,000 and 20,000 ships with input from 53 countries. He added that MSSIS uses the same system used for online banking and credit cards, so it is as secure as they are.

The admiral provided lessons learned:

• The best way to solve information sharing is a bite (byte) at a time.
• Find a specific need to share information, identify what we need to know and when we need to know it, then define the means to share it.
• The Navy shouldn't own it because then it is identified as an intelligence asset -- it is not useful if you can't share it. It has to be totally open and transparent.
• Establish, broker and maintain verifiable trust
• It has to be open, through the Internet
• It is essential to identify anomalies.
• Find out everyone's wants - understand their wants - they may not be same as yours, but they are likely to be compatible.
• Find out what you need, find out who has it, find out what they need, find out what they can't share.
• Don't try to do too much all at once -- start small and expand like a virus.
• Once people start sharing, those outside get jealous.
• Show the advantages of doing information sharing -- the win-win.
• Work around what can't be shared if possible, but accept that you can't have everything.
• Collaborate and cooperate to graduate.

ADM Ulrich pointed out that all GMISS participants were gathered in this community because they are all responsible, in one way or another, for making sure nothing bad happens to our citizens from the sea. He said if they continue to think about that, the barriers and impediments will start to fall.

The admiral used Henry Ford as an example of the importance of getting starting. He asked what would have happened if Ford had said to himself, "I'm going to mass market cars, but before I do, I want the government to make the interstates, stop lights, and stop signs. I want someone to put us gas stations around the world. Then I'll mass produce the car."

ADM Ulrich also addressed some of the concerns about global maritime information sharing.

• Who owns the community? Nobody and everybody.
• What happens when you turn off transponder? You identify yourself as a ship of interest.
• What is the end phase - how many ships do you want to track? All of them.

ADM Ulrich said that some people in DOD argue that global maritime information sharing is bad because it is not classified -- they can't say why, but they say that makes it bad.

He added that some people in industry say global maritime information sharing will hurt commercial advantages, but that Mr. AP Moeller in Denmark said to him of MSSIS, "I was wondering when somebody was going to come up with this."

To those in shipping companies who don't like global maritime information sharing, ADM Ulrich said that it is already happening, so if you participate so you can help shape it. He said it is just a matter of time until the maritime community is doing the same thing as the air community -- no plane shows up at LaGuardia? and says, "hey, do you have a slot for me?" He warned that it is just a matter of time until that doesn't happen at sea. If you want to come in, he said, show us your bona fides - where did you come from, what are you carrying, etc.

ADM Ulrich also recommended not trying to control the end state of information sharing, saying it will be what it will be. He added that he avoids questions about how many countries should be linked through MISSIS. "Look at ATMs," he said. "Did someone ask, what's the magic number when we'll stop making ATMs? Just let it grow."

He said governance would eventually be required, but that it is crucial not to stifle imagination and restrict development in the program's early state. "Ideas that change the world don't start with a CONOPS and a requirements document," he said.

ADM Ulrich's concluding recommendation was to ask "what can't I share and why not?" and to share everything else.

A Department of Commerce Perspective on Global Maritime Information Sharing

Mr. Mario Mancusco, Undersecretary of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security

Mr. Mancusco explained the importance of maritime information sharing to the continuance of safe and secure global trade. He further explained the importance of global trade to the US economy. However, Mr. Mancusco also pointed out the importance of the US technological edge in the nation's prosperity and the role of proprietary information in maintaining that edge.

Closing Remarks

RDML Lee Metcalf, Director OGMSA

RDML Metcalf explained that he had just attended a meeting of the Deputies' Committee and that what was being accomplished at GMISS was well received.

The admiral pointed out that the symposium had posed the question: what do you want from Navies and Coast Guards. It is also valid to ask, he said, what is industry willing to do with regard to information sharing?

RDML Metcalf said he had obtained funding from the Office of the Secretary of Defense to conduct follow up to GMISS and that he was open to observations about how best to do that. He said OGMSA has three staff members that will identify what the steps are and carry the water.

The OGMSA Director pointed out that there are many systems available throughout government and industry and that there is no inventory what information users need.

He raised the point that information on small vessels - recreation, fishing, etc. - is critical because there has not been a single case of a merchant vessel carrying in a threat. If we made information sharing a requirement for a certain size vessel and then reduced it down more and more, it would eventually be economically viable for everyone. He added that the Coast Guard and others within DHS are devoting a lot of effort to small vessels.

RDML Metcalf said he did not want to minimize the threat to port issue, but asked what would happen we look at information sharing from another angle. What if we could increase the efficiency of entering port? He said multiple entities manage ports and asked how to bring them together to increase the throughput. The FAA told the airlines in 1970s that throughout was below 50 percent in some cases, RDML Metcalf said. The airlines realized if they gave more information, they made more money, so they gave more information. Throughput went up, the airlines made more money, and the security issue benefited.

According to RDML Metcalf, nobody in government approaching maritime information is asking, how do we help these guys make more money? He said when he asks the question, he runs into challenges. If he tries to do this in one port, he gets asked, why aren't you doing that for me?

The admiral asked about developing a template for this? One of the elements could be the possibility of incremental improvements in port efficiency through port efficiency.

RDML Metcalf closed by promising to continue working the issues developed at GMISS and to arrange another event to follow up and develop the way ahead.

Additional Minutes

Breakout Sessions

Working Groups

(Return to main report)

-- ChadHolmes - 26 Jan 2009