Maritime Information Sharing Workshop

Published: 25th Jun, 2019

The Indian Navy has hosted a Maritime Information Sharing Workshop (MISW) under the aegis of the Information Fusion Centre — Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) at Gurugram.

Context

The Indian Navy has hosted a Maritime Information Sharing Workshop (MISW) under the aegis of the Information Fusion Centre — Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) at Gurugram.

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Over 41 delegates from 29 countries of the IOR and beyond participated in the two-day event.
The aim was to acquaint participants about IFC-IOR and its information sharing mechanisms and promote sharing of best practices in this field.
The workshop was meant to enhance coordination and to improve response to the myriad security and safety challenges that IOR faces.
Themes such as maritime terrorism, piracy, human and drug trafficking, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief; and the legal perspective of combating were at the core of the workshop.

Information Fusion Centre –Indian Ocean Region

It is an initiative of Indian Navy supported by the Government of India.
It was launched in December 2018 for enhancing maritime safety and security in the Indian Ocean Region.
It is collocated with Information Management and Analysis Centre which is jointly administered by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.
It has so far established linkages with more than 16 countries and 13 international maritime security agencies.
The information exchange at the IFC-IOR would be initially undertaken by virtual means, using telephone calls, faxes, emails and video conferencing over internet.
Subsequently, to enable better interaction, quicker analysis of information and provide timely inputs, the IFC-IOR would host Liaison Officers from partner countries.
IFC-IOR would also undertake conduct of exercises and training capsules in maritime information collation and sharing.
The entire mechanism would comprise of ideology supported by following three pillars:-
- Confidence and capacity building amongst partner nations, thereby ensuring swift and accurate exchange of information pertaining to maritime security.
- Maintaining extensive and continuous linkages to ensure comprehensive MDA of the region thereby achieving transparency of maritime environment.
- Use of high tech including state of the art methods and analytic tools to undertake traffic analysis thereby ensuring that any emerging threats and trends are predicted in time.

Significance

IFC-IOR is established with the vision of strengthening maritime security in the region and beyond, by building a common coherent maritime situation picture and acting as a maritime information hub for the region.
Establishment of IFC- IOR would ensure that the entire region is benefitted by mutual collaboration and exchange of information and understanding the concerns and threats which are prevalent in the region.

Genesis of Information Fusion Centre

The Indian Ocean Region with its strategic location and as a home to a vast majority of world’s population, can be considered as the economic highway that drives global commerce.
Over 75% of the world’s maritime trade and 50% of daily global oil consumption passing through the region that accounts for the greater importance of the region.
The IOR is also a fragile environment, with threats such as maritime terrorism, piracy, human and contraband trafficking, illegal and unregulated fishing, arms running and poaching being prevalent.
Hence, facilitating a conducive environment to undertake legitimate maritime activities in this region is a necessity.
Collaborative efforts between maritime nations, is essential for safety and security of the region.
To further collaborative efforts, a need has been felt to establish a dedicated centre for undertaking collation, fusion and dissemination of this data being exchanged with all partners.
It is in this line that Indian Navy in Collaboration of Government of India has come up with the idea of International Fusion Centre for White Shipping Information.

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR UPSC IAS

Maritime Information Sharing Workshop