AFCEA International Chapter News
PORTUGAL CHAPTER CHAPTER - Oct 10, 2012

Seminar on Maritime Security

In October, the chapter and the Portuguese Navy's Research Center (CINAV) organized a seminar on “Security and Maritime Situational Knowledge” at the Portuguese Naval Academy. This seminar was part of the 30th meeting of NATO's Science and Technology Organization Panel on Systems, Concepts and Integration (SCI). The event attracted nearly 150 attendees, including 40 SCI members from nations and NATO organizations involved in science and technology. It featured presentations by three communities of interest: entities with responsibilities in this area, sharing their views and challenges encountered during their core activities; academia, presenting possible approaches for addressing these issues; and industry, conveying available solutions or solutions under development. Rear. Adm. Seabra de Melo, PON, commander of the Portuguese Naval Academy, opened the seminar by welcoming the participants and underlining the role of the Naval Research Center.

Capt. Sousa Pereira, PON, Portuguese Navy staff, gave the keynote address on a geopolitical and geostrategic vision of the oceans for NATO, and he pointed out the importance of sea trade for the world in general, particularly NATO nations. He proceeded to identify the various dimensions where NATO may identify threats to the alliance and the importance of having a clear and shared strategy to deal with them. Rear. Adm. Gameiro Marques, PON, chief information officer in the Portuguese Navy, described maritime situational knowledge concepts and focused on cybersecurity issues that arise in the maritime domain along with the need to address this serious problem.

Lt. Cmdr. Santos Fernandes, PON, Portuguese Hydrographic Institute, gave a presentation on “Contribution of Marine Sciences to the Maritime Situational Knowledge,” where he overviewed the institute's research projects in this area and showed a site where the data is publically available. Price-Waterhouse-Coopers presented the results of market research on the economic impact of the use of the sea, clearly pointing out the importance of this sector. ESRI-Portugal presented some of the tools available for geospatial data analysis, presenting a very interesting case study on the use of these tools for tracking hostile naval forces. In addition, Critical Software from Coimbra, Portugal, showed a prototype of the Oversee system for maritime situation awareness developed in partnership with the Portuguese Navy and the University of Oporto. This system currently is being tested operationally at the Portuguese Navy's Command Center. Completing the presentations by industrial partners, EID presented its suite of tactical naval communication systems, focusing on their flexibility and compatibility with various existing systems. The event closed with the organizers thanking everyone who contributed to the success of the seminar.

Event Photographs:

Speaking at the chapter's opening seminar session in October are (l-r) Rear Adm. Carlos Rodolfo, PON (Ret.), chapter president; Rear. Adm. Seabra de Melo, PON, commander of the Portuguese Naval Academy; and Professor Victor Lobo, director of CINAV.
Speaking at the chapter's opening seminar session in October are (l-r) Rear Adm. Carlos Rodolfo, PON (Ret.), chapter president; Rear. Adm. Seabra de Melo, PON, commander of the Portuguese Naval Academy; and Professor Victor Lobo, director of CINAV.
Rear. Adm. Gameiro Marques, PON, chief information officer in the Portuguese Navy, presents on maritime situation knowledge during the chapter's October seminar.
Rear. Adm. Gameiro Marques, PON, chief information officer in the Portuguese Navy, presents on maritime situation knowledge during the chapter's October seminar.

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