Conference Description
Key Takeaways
- Annual summit addressing maritime security challenges facing the Department of the Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and port authorities
- Focus on integrating artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and advanced analytics into maritime operations
- Discussion of USCG Force Design 2028 and naval modernisation initiatives
- Emphasis on Maritime Domain Awareness for coastlines, ports, and vessels
- Designed for senior military leaders, government officials, port security executives, and defence technology providers
- Addresses both physical and cyber security challenges across maritime infrastructure
Introduction
The 2nd Annual Maritime Security Summit brings together senior leaders from the Department of the Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, port authorities, and marine technology providers to address the evolving challenges of securing American maritime interests. Hosted by DSI Group at National Harbor, Maryland, the summit focuses on how emerging technologies and strengthened partnerships can enhance Maritime Domain Awareness across U.S. coastlines, ports, and vessels. The timing reflects growing urgency around naval modernisation, autonomous systems deployment, and the need for improved intelligence sharing as maritime threats become increasingly sophisticated.
About This Event
This executive-level gathering combines keynote presentations, panel discussions, roundtable sessions, and product demonstrations to create an environment suited to both strategic dialogue and technical evaluation. The programme draws speakers from military commands, government agencies, and industry, providing multiple perspectives on the operational realities of maritime security.
The summit operates as a forum where acquisition authorities, policymakers, and solution providers can engage directly. This structure reflects the complex procurement landscape in defence technology, where operational requirements must align with available capabilities and budgetary constraints.
Autonomous Systems and Artificial Intelligence in Maritime Operations
A significant portion of the programme addresses the operationalisation of robotic and autonomous systems, including unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned surface vessels. These platforms are increasingly central to surveillance, reconnaissance, and threat detection missions where persistent coverage is required but crewed assets are limited or at risk.
The integration of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics represents a parallel development. AI capabilities are being applied to process the substantial data volumes generated by sensor networks, satellite imagery, and vessel tracking systems. The challenge lies not merely in collecting information but in synthesising it rapidly enough to support operational decisions. Maritime Domain Awareness depends on this synthesis, transforming raw data into actionable intelligence that commanders can use to identify threats, track suspicious vessels, and coordinate responses.
Sensor fusion—combining inputs from radar, electro-optical systems, acoustic sensors, and other sources—features prominently in discussions of how autonomous platforms and AI work together. The goal is a more complete operational picture than any single sensor type can provide.
USCG Force Design 2028 and Naval Modernisation
The summit examines USCG Force Design 2028, the Coast Guard’s strategic framework for modernising its capabilities to meet evolving mission demands. This initiative addresses sustained readiness across the service’s diverse responsibilities, from search and rescue to law enforcement and defence operations.
Broader discussions of resourcing sea services for maritime dominance connect to the U.S. Maritime Action Plan and shipbuilding priorities. These conversations acknowledge the tension between capability requirements and industrial capacity, a challenge that has shaped naval procurement debates for years. The fielding of critical technologies across warfighting domains—surface, subsurface, air, cyber, and space—requires coordinated investment and acquisition strategies.
Intelligence Integration and Interagency Collaboration
Maritime intelligence integration and information sharing form a recurring theme throughout the programme. Effective maritime security requires coordination among military services, federal agencies, state and local authorities, and international partners. Information silos have historically impeded this coordination, and the summit addresses both technical and organisational approaches to improving data flow.
The focus on alliances and partnerships, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region, reflects the geographic realities of contemporary maritime security. The Indo-Pacific encompasses critical shipping lanes, contested waters, and areas where illicit activities including smuggling and trafficking require multinational responses. Strengthening these partnerships involves not only diplomatic engagement but also technical interoperability—ensuring that systems and data formats can work across national boundaries.
Port and Vessel Security Challenges
Innovation in port and vessel security receives dedicated attention, encompassing both physical and cyber dimensions. Ports represent critical infrastructure where disruptions can cascade through supply chains and economic systems. The convergence of operational technology and information technology in modern port operations has expanded the attack surface for cyber threats, while physical security must address everything from unauthorised access to potential terrorist threats.
Vessel security presents its own challenges, particularly as ships become more connected and automated. The same technologies that improve efficiency and safety can introduce vulnerabilities if not properly secured. The summit’s treatment of these issues recognises that security must be designed into systems rather than added as an afterthought.
Industry Participation and Technology Demonstration
The event features participation from defence and maritime technology companies including Leidos, Real-Time Innovations, Windward, Echodyne, and others specialising in areas such as vessel tracking, surveillance systems, autonomous platforms, and detection technologies. Product demonstrations and exhibit space provide opportunities for attendees to evaluate specific capabilities in the context of their operational requirements.
This industry presence reflects the reality that maritime security increasingly depends on commercial innovation. Many of the technologies under discussion—AI, autonomous systems, advanced sensors—have developed rapidly in commercial contexts before being adapted for defence applications. The summit facilitates the dialogue between operational users who understand mission requirements and technology providers who understand what is technically achievable.
Who Should Attend
The summit is structured for senior decision-makers with responsibilities spanning operations, acquisition, policy, and technology development. Military attendees typically include commanders and programme executive officers from the Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps. Government participation extends to federal, state, and local agencies with maritime security responsibilities.
Port authority executives and security directors will find relevant content on infrastructure protection and threat mitigation. Defence industry executives, particularly those involved in maritime technology development, can engage with potential customers and partners while gaining insight into evolving requirements. The programme’s depth assumes familiarity with maritime operations and defence acquisition processes, making it most valuable for those already working in these domains.
Strategic Context
The summit arrives at a moment when maritime security faces compounding pressures. Great power competition has renewed focus on naval capabilities after decades of emphasis on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency. Simultaneously, non-state threats persist, and climate change is altering operating conditions in ways that affect both military operations and the illicit activities that maritime forces must counter.
Technology offers partial answers to these challenges, but only when integrated thoughtfully into operational concepts and supported by adequate training and maintenance. The summit’s emphasis on dialogue between operators, policymakers, and technologists reflects an understanding that no single community holds all the answers. Effective maritime security requires sustained collaboration across organisational boundaries—precisely the kind of collaboration the event is designed to foster.