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EVENT MARITIME RISK SYMPOSIUM our national security. To date, the efforts have not produced the nating with international partners, government agencies and non- directed strategy. This panel will discuss the latest attempt to de- governmental organizations to combat gray zone activities?

velop the strategy as mandated by the Fiscal Year 2023 National

Defense Authorization Act. After providing a historical review PANEL 6 – MULTI-SERVICE AND MARITIME INDUSTRY of previous efforts, panelists will provide the status of the ongo- COLLABORATION IN THE ARCTIC ing study, aimed at providing foundational input to the strategy. Focus: As maritime activity in the Arctic region increases,

This will be followed by perspectives from the administration, how do the sea services (the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps,

U.S. shipbuilding/repair industry, U.S.-? ag shipping and mari- the U.S. Coast Guard, Merchant Marine and National Oce- time labor regarding what the strategy needs to address. anic and Atmospheric Administration) and maritime industry best collaborate to mitigate the risks of conducting operations

PANEL 4 – MARITIME CYBER AND MULTI-STAKEHOLDER in the harsh Arctic region? While domestic and United States

COLLABORATION Indo-Paci? c Command maritime gray zone activities are re-

Focus: Gray zone threats in the maritime domain, character- ceiving national press coverage, such activities also extend to ized by subtle cyberattacks aimed at disrupting operations and the polar regions, and speci? cally the Arctic. This panel will gaining strategic advantage, pose a complex challenge to tradi- explore the risk and impact of such activities.

tional cybersecurity approaches. These threats often fall below the threshold of conventional con? ict, making attribution and re- EVERGREEN sponse dif? cult. Arti? cial intelligence (AI) offers promising so- MRS 2024 will include a Coast Guard Evergreen event that lutions to enhance the detection, analysis and mitigation of gray will also focus on the gray zone. The Evergreen Program is the zone cyber threats in the maritime sector. This panel will explore Coast Guard’s strategic foresight initiative, tasked with look- the potential of AI to counter tactics like GPS spoo? ng, Automat- ing over the horizon to inform current planning and better pre- ic Identi? cation System manipulation and attacks against port pare the U.S. Coast Guard for an uncertain and unpredictable infrastructure. It will examine how machine learning-based sys- future. Using scenario-based exercises and workshops involv- tems can identify anomalies in network behavior, detect subtle ing a diverse group of stakeholders, common strategic needs or patterns associated with gray zone activities and automate threat key success factors can be identi? ed across multiple plausible intelligence analysis. The panel will also address the challenges scenarios to better inform long-term strategic planning efforts.

of applying AI in this context, including the need for specialized Evergreen is a joint venture that combines strategy and fore- datasets, then explain the ability of AI decisions and ensuring the sight with the greater maritime community of seasoned indus- trustworthiness of AI systems in high-stakes environments. try professionals, academic centers and national labs, maritime students and government/non-governmental organization reg-

PANEL 5 – UNDERSTANDING MARITIME RISK AMIDST ulatory bodies. Typically, participants examine possible future

GRAY ZONE CONFLICT scenarios and identify tomorrow's maritime infrastructure vul-

Focus: Identi? cation of gray zone activities and understanding nerabilities and their implications to prosperity and security. of their risk and impact. It can be dif? cult to identify gray zone The teams are a balance of diversity of experience, combining activities, since they are already in an unde? ned space. Conse- students and professionals in an interactive workshop designed quently, understanding the total impact of gray zone activities, or to drive multi-disciplinary perspectives and strategic thinking. more broadly, the total risk of potential activities in the gray zone, This will be the ? fth year the Commandant’s Emerging Policy is a signi? cant challenge. The panel will work through questions staff has run an MRS-focused Evergreen.

like: What types of risk do gray zone activities pose to the econ- Who should attend MRS2024? Maritime military members, omy, international relationships, security v and global balance of Marine Transportation System industry representatives and power? What types of risks do gray zone activities bring to opera- members of academic institutions.

tional activities in different regions? What are the key concerns of For more information and to register for the Maritime Risk each of the services and industry? What are each of the services Symposium 2024 use this link: doing to address these concerns? How are the services coordi- https://www.maritimerisksymposium.org

The Author The Author

Brutzman DiRenzo

Dr. Don Brutzman is a co-chair of the 2024 Maritime Risk Symposium. Dr. Joe DiRenzo is a co-chair of 2024 Maritime Risk Symposium

A computer scientist and associate professor of applied science, and the U.S. Coast Guard’s director of research partnerships for

Brutzman works in the Modeling Virtual Environments Simulation the Research and Development Center. A frequent contributor to (MOVES) Institute, Undersea Warfare Academic Group and Maritime Reporter, he founded MRS in 2009 and has co-chaired

Information Sciences Department at the Naval Postgraduate School every event since.

in Monterey, California. He is a retired naval submarine of? cer.

56 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • May 2024

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