Vanguard Magazine

maritime doMAin AWAreness 22 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 www.vanguardcanada.com velocity, and usually comes in a variety of formats (known as the 3Vs). From this perspective, MDA data derived from EO, S-AIS, and open sources certainly qualifies as Big Data. Current EO satellites can process enor- mous quantities of data, yet the operation- al and scientific communities have only begun to scratch the surface of this poten- tial. Although satellites are capable of col- lecting vast amounts of information that could provide an integrated and highly ac- curate MDA picture, practitioners simply cannot find the data they need, often be- cause there is too much to sort through. From this perspective, having too much data that cannot be efficiently exploited is just as useless as having too little data – perhaps even more so. In the near term (one to five years), the explosion of EO systems (hundreds of satellites) will dramatically expand the universe of data available well beyond its already astronomical proportions. To take full advantage of the potential that Big Data can bring, and draw out the ben- efits of new space applications, there is an urgent requirement for the application of Big Data technologies that can extract useful MDA information from large pools of raw data. The emerging generic best practices for Big Data implementations can be usefully applied to Maritime Do- main Awareness. The application of Big Data techniques to MDA comes with some challenges. In particular, making disparate data sets (such as government records, personal data, social media, etc.) available to Big Data applications while also protecting sensitive or proprietary information from misuse or exposure will be critical and must be addressed. Canadian concepts of operations for MDA The exploitation of current and planned data sources, combined with rapidly ad- vancing space system technology and Big Data analytics, presents a significant information management challenge. The merging of large, disparate data sets into a coherent approach to MDA is far from trivial. It promises a powerful surveillance capability, yet it contributes to the most challenging MDA problem: the ability to extract accurate, complete, and trusted information through the management, analysis, and exploitation of potentially beneficial, yet massive, data sets. In order to accomplish this, there is an urgent need for a Concepts of Operations (CONOPS) that recognizes the paradigm shifts occur- ring in data acquisition and analytics. Little exists in open literature on Ca- nadian (or allied) CONOPS for MDA. However, from our research, three priori- ties emerge: the need to exploit new tech- nologies (especially space-based sensors), more integrated and collaborative infor- mation-sharing capabilities within the Government of Canada and with allies, and more timely processing of informa- tion to produce a trusted MDA picture. Within these priorities, the following gaps were specifically identified: the lack of per- sistent wide-area surveillance, the lack of awareness of the location and identifica- tion of small vessels, and the poor exist- ing infrastructure for information sharing within the Government of Canada and its allies. If one can find comfort in num- bers, these priorities and gaps are echoed in many of the MDA discussions amongst Canada's allies and trading partners. It was clear in our research that mono- lithic, stand-alone MDA systems could not be made flexible or resilient enough to keep pace with technological advances. Any future successful CONOPS must be enabled by High-Level Systems Architec- tures (HLSAs) capable of ingesting mul- tiple data sources and adapting to advances in technology as required. We believe an appropriate HLSA would consist of an enterprise-level, cloud-based, service-ori- ented architecture with associated applica- tion services. New data sources and tech- nical capabilities can be easily integrated, keeping the system evergreen. The HLSA would also support the information-shar- ing environment necessary for government and international MDA collaboration. The growing trend of Software as a Service (or perhaps in our case MDA as a Service) is a model worth exploring. The future We are on the threshold of the Golden Age of space-based surveillance. A casual review of Earth-observation companies' websites finds references to the democratization of space data, unprecedented insight into the health and wealth of our planet, and the ability to understand and save our planet for our children and the generations to follow. These are lofty, and some would say idealis- tic goals. Our study of future trends in earth observation to support Maritime Domain Awareness suggests they might be right. The forthcoming explosion in earth observations systems, Big Data analyt- ics, and concepts around HLSAs can and will transform MDA. Canada has a unique advantage as an early innovator of space- based MDA capabilities. Will we lever- age our unique knowledge and advanced industrial base to make the next great in- novative leap to enable global, persistent Maritime Domain Awareness? Andre Dupuis is President of Space Strategies Consulting Ltd Maria Rey is Vice-President and Chief Science Officer of Space Strategies Consulting Ltd Space-based MDA does not end with satellites and the data they produce. Valuable MDA data is available through a plethora of open sources, and vast amounts of data need to be integrated into a coherent MDA picture.

• Cover