By
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
, CEO of LexisNexis Special Services
According to US Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security, more than 11 million maritime containers arrive in United States seaports each year -- an average of 32,000 a day. Only a fraction of these containers are ever inspected, presenting terrorists with tens of thousands of opportunities each day to smuggle weapons of mass destruction into the country. Bottom line: the organizations charged with managing the security of our ports and borders lack the necessary data to screen the cargo, personnel, businesses, vessels, and infrastructure involved in the global maritime supply chain for potential threats to our security.
The Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act, signed into law in 2007, established a mandate to screen all US-bound maritime cargo for terrorist threats by July 1, 2012. However, the mandate has been criticized by business groups who fear that screening all containers would severely restrict the flow of global maritime commerce, and there are doubts that the Department of Homeland Security will be able to meet the deadline.
While comprehensive cargo screening continues to be debated, the effort to enhance maritime security is shifting focus to the development of a global Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) initiative spearheaded by the United States Navy, the Coast Guard, and other critical federal and state and local agencies.
MDA is defined as the understanding of everything associated with the global maritime environment that could impact the security, safety, economy or environment of the United States and the global maritime supply chain. When achieved, MDA will provide homeland security professionals across agencies and jurisdictions with the actionable intelligence they need to detect and respond to maritime-based threats.
The creation and implementation of a successful MDA program faces several stiff challenges. The government's ability to achieve MDA will be challenged by its ability to collect massive amounts of data relating to the global maritime supply chain, analyze that data to develop actionable intelligence, and disseminate the results responsibly and efficiently to a vast group of national defense and homeland security organizations, law enforcement agencies, and coalition forces.
As imposing as these challenges are, they are not insurmountable. For decades the private sector has leveraged systems that facilitate the analysis of large amounts of data to help anticipate threats to their business and to effectively manage risk. Based on the experiences of these organizations, a roadmap to overcoming the challenges of MDA can be developed.
First, the government should begin by cataloging, understanding and planning for the various domestic and international data sharing processes, procedures and requirements that will dictate the use of the data that will be collected. Additionally, data policy/data sharing principles should be built directly into the overall solution, thereby facilitating responsible information sharing among agencies.
Second, the government must build and operate an effective data supply chain. This requires the development of pipelines of MDA-related data from private companies, public organizations and foreign countries to the US government. This will require the development or leveraging of relationships with thousands of local and global maritime companies and institutions. Additionally, this data supply chain will have to be constructed in such a way as to enable daily data collection and the ongoing examination of data sources to ensure accuracy and integrity of data.
Third, the government must develop and employ a data fusion system capable of ingesting, cleansing and analyzing all maritime data on a single platform for real-time anomaly detection and threat assessment. As a result, the system must be engineered to address large-scale, disparate data problems at levels of performance unattainable through traditional computing architectures and relational databases.
Finally, the government should seek partnerships with organizations and individuals and invest in technologies and solutions that are on the leading-edge of data processing and analysis and reflect expertise in navigating critical data privacy laws. By partnering with these organizations, the government can draw upon advanced technologies, in-depth understanding of the various legal, regulatory, data privacy, and policy issues and expertise in data analysis that will ensure successful execution of MDA operations.
Haywood Talcove is the CEO of LexisNexis Special Services, Inc. For LexisNexis MDA solutions click: http://www.lexisnexis.com/government/solutions/intelligence/maritime.aspx
According to US Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security, more than 11 million maritime containers arrive in United States seaports each year an average of 32,000 a day. Only a fraction of these containers are ever inspected, presenting terrorists with tens of thousands of opportunities each day to smuggle weapons of mass destruction into the country. Bottom line: the organizations charged with managing the security of our ports and borders lack the necessary data to screen the cargo, personnel, businesses, vessels, and infrastructure involved in the global maritime supply chain for potential threats to our security.
The Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act, signed into law in 2007, established a mandate to screen all US-bound maritime cargo for terrorist threats by July 1, 2012. However, the mandate has been criticized by business groups who fear that screening all containers would severely restrict the flow of global maritime commerce, and there are doubts that the Department of Homeland Security will be able to meet the deadline.
While comprehensive cargo screening continues to be debated, the effort to enhance maritime security is shifting focus to the development of a global Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) initiative spearheaded by the United States Navy, the Coast Guard, and other critical federal and state and local agencies.
MDA is defined as the understanding of everything associated with the global maritime environment that could impact the security, safety, economy or environment of the United States and the global maritime supply chain. When achieved, MDA will provide homeland security professionals across agencies and jurisdictions with the actionable intelligence they need to detect and respond to maritime-based threats.
The creation and implementation of a successful MDA program faces several stiff challenges. The governments ability to achieve MDA will be challenged by its ability to collect massive amounts of data relating to the global maritime supply chain, analyze that data to develop actionable intelligence, and disseminate the results responsibly and efficiently to a vast group of national defense and homeland security organizations, law enforcement agencies, and coalition forces.
As imposing as these challenges are, they are not insurmountable. For decades the private sector has leveraged systems that facilitate the analysis of large amounts of data to help anticipate threats to their business and to effectively manage risk. Based on the experiences of these organizations, a roadmap to overcoming the challenges of MDA can be developed.
First, the government should begin by cataloging, understanding and planning for the various domestic and international data sharing processes, procedures and requirements that will dictate the use of the data that will be collected. Additionally, data policy/data sharing principles should be built directly into the overall solution, thereby facilitating responsible information sharing among agencies.
Second, the government must build and operate an effective data supply chain. This requires the development of pipelines of MDA-related data from private companies, public organizations and foreign countries to the US government. This will require the development or leveraging of relationships with thousands of local and global maritime companies and institutions. Additionally, this data supply chain will have to be constructed in such a way as to enable daily data collection and the ongoing examination of data sources to ensure accuracy and integrity of data.
Third, the government must develop and employ a data fusion system capable of ingesting, cleansing and analyzing all maritime data on a single platform for real-time anomaly detection and threat assessment. As a result, the system must be engineered to address large-scale, disparate data problems at levels of performance unattainable through traditional computing architectures and relational databases.
Finally, the government should seek partnerships with organizations and individuals and invest in technologies and solutions that are on the leading-edge of data processing and analysis and reflect expertise in navigating critical data privacy laws. By partnering with these organizations, the government can draw upon advanced technologies, in-depth understanding of the various legal, regulatory, data privacy, and policy issues and expertise in data analysis that will ensure successful execution of MDA operations.
Haywood Talcove is the CEO of LexisNexis Special Services, Inc. For LexisNexis MDA solutions click: http://www.lexisnexis.com/government/solutions/intelligence/maritime.aspx
Subscribe to this comment's feed
| < Prev |
|---|
Company