NMCO Announces Interagency MDA Game

The National Maritime Domain Awareness Coordination Office (NMCO) is proud to announce the Interagency MDA Game to be held June 21-23 at the US Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC.

The purpose of the Interagency MDA Game is to provide a forum to explore priority interagency efforts and common maritime information requirements to promote development of MDA in support of common goals and national-level guidance.  Included in the Joint Integration of MDA Joint Test (JIMDA JT) and development of an operational plan for the Information Coordination Groups (ICGs) described in the National MDA Plan.  Participation in the game will improve the processes and procedures for collaboration and information sharing among interagency partners.

This game will support both documentation of ICGs’ practical roles and responsibilities and the U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)-sponsored JIMDA JT objectives.  In the draft of the National MDA Plan, the ICGs are “responsible for the coordination of information sharing.”  What that responsibility means in practice needs further consideration and documentation along the lines of a concept of operations (CONOPS), and will be conducted in a facilitated workshop.  The JIMDA JT, when complete, will address a number of Interagency Solutions Analysis ( IASA)-identified gaps.  While the scope of JIMDA JT is specifically focused on maritime information sharing among select nodes (ARNORTH, AFNORTH, USFFC MOC, N2C2, LANTAREA, and PACAREA), this game will ensure that the resultant Joint tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) for sharing information are viable in the interagency environment and are suitable for the MDA IASA Solutions Action Teams’ review as a “government off the shelf” solution in future iterations of interagency solutions efforts. 

The DoD JIMDA JT is seeking participation from interagency representatives to validate and strengthen maritime information sharing TTP. Specifically, such participation in the game will:

• ensure that interactions between DoD and interagency operations centers remain effective when the DoD operations centers implement the TTP currently in development,
• refine those maritime issues or events that warrant information sharing and collaboration between interagency partners,
• identify processes, procedures and tools currently used to facilitate MDA among interagency partners- especially those methods supporting existing Maritime Operational Threat Response (MOTR) processes,
• determine the need for centralized processes, procedures, and tools to facilitate MDA among interagency partners, and
• demonstrate how common TTP could provide a low cost/ high return improvement to National MDA capabilities.
• demonstrate products that could standardize how the various interagency leaders view maritime issues or events .

Key Dates

Initial Planning Conference, March 2, 2011
Mid Planning Conference, April 20, 2011
Final Planning Conference, May 25, 2011
Interagency Game, June 21 – 23, 2011
Report on Game, July 29, 2011

Ongoing planning is being conducted online.  If you are interested in participating or would like further information, please contact Rachel Perron at Rachel.L.Perron@uscg.mil.