Advanced Study Institute 2011
Prediction and Recognition of Piracy Efforts
Using Collaborative Human-Centric Information Systems

Salamanca, Spain (19-30 September, 2011)

Objectives

The main objective of this ASI is to provide discussions on prediction, recognition and deterrent of maritime piracy through the use of collaborative human-centric information support systems. Maritime piracy is a widespread international concern. Over the years, it has been on the rise with the number of attacks increasing substantially. Deep sea vessels are extremely susceptible to hostile boarding due to their inherent vulnerability. They are large and heavy and in the most cases served by rather small crews. In addition, ship owners are reluctant to directly address the issue of maritime piracy for commercial reasons resulting in the lack of reporting and law enforcement Pirates are aware and take advantage of the vessel vulnerability and the lack of police on board, which leave their crime unpunished most of the time. It is necessary to suppress piracy and violent marine crime through anti-piracy and counter-piracy operations: Anti-piracy training and operational security awareness should be mandatory for vessel owners and vessel crews Crisis Management and anti-piracy programs must be defined and followed in order to reduce the vulnerability of the vessels.

Collaborative human-centric information support systems can significantly improve the ability of every nation to predict and prevent an incident or rapidly recognize its nature, and extent for effective collective response. Designing collaborative human-centric information support systems requires human system integration, cognitive systems engineering methodologies, collaborative environment technologies, knowledge exploitation and data/information mining, information fusion, and collaborative decision support capabilities to: