REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON MARITIME DOMAIN AWARENESS DIGITAL EVIDENCE AND RESILIENCE HELD IN COLOMBO
BOBP-IGO joined the Regional Workshop on Maritime Domain Awareness as Digital Evidence was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 13–15 September 2026. The MDA workshop, organized by UNODC, brought together representatives from Bangladesh, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka including Departments of Fisheries, Coast Guards, Navies, IFC-IOR, IFC Colombo, Police, Prosecution, Environment Authorities and investigation agencies to strengthen capacity in preserving, authenticating and presenting MDA-derived data as digital evidence. It was followed by Expert Group Meeting on Submarine Cable Protection and Resilience held from 16 to 17 September 2026 in Colombo.
Vice Admiral G. Ashok Kumar (Retd), Adviser, BOBP-IGO, attended both meetings. He traced MDA evolution in India from a Navy initiative to a multi-agency endeavour post 26/11 leading to IMAC, NC3I and IFC-IOR. He emphasised challenges of MDA in a crowded IOR with about 30,000 ships, its key constituents including Coastal Radar, AIS, VATMS, LRIT, White Shipping and Space-based AIS, compilation through White Shipping Agreements and AI-based CS & DS system, and multi-agency coordination through NMSC, SMSCs and MAMSGs. He also touched upon underwater domain awareness challenges. A field visit to Information Fusion Centre Colombo was also conducted as part of the MDA workshop
.#MaritimeDomainAwareness #DigitalEvidence #NC3I #IMAC #SubmarineCable #UNODC #GMCP #BOBPIGO
