The Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI), a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence, will host the 11th Annual Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS 2020) in collaboration with the National Academy of Sciences. Due to COVID-19, the Symposium will now be held virtually the week of Oct. 26-30, 2020. More details on the format and schedule will be forthcoming.

The theme of MRS 2020 is “Maritime Resilience.” DHS defines resilient infrastructure systems as the “ability of systems, infrastructures, government, business, communities, and individuals to resist, tolerate, absorb, recover from, prepare for, or adapt to an adverse occurrence that causes harm, destruction, or loss of national significance.” Through presentations, panels and open forums, the symposium will focus on the attributes of resilience to adversarial events of national significance in the maritime domain, using our experience with COVID-19 as a driver for the discussion. The objective is less about the specific impacts COVID-19 had and is having, and more on how that event informs us on resiliency for future global upsets, in terms of what works, what gaps have been exposed, and what research questions ought to be studied as a first step towards enhancing Maritime Resilience.

Keynotes will be presented by Dr. Stephen Flynn, Director of the Global Resilience Institute, Northeastern University, Rear Admiral Donna Cottrell, Ninth Coast Guard District Commander, and Rear Admiral Michael Fossum, Superintendent of the Texas A&M Maritime Academy and COO/Vice President of Texas A&M University at Galveston.

Panel topics include:

  • Maritime Resilience and the Human Element
  • Resilience of Maritime Systems
  • Maritime Resilience – A Multi-sector Perspective
  • Maritime Resilience and Cyber Security
  • Resilience of Maritime Organizations
  • The State of Resilience for Maritime Infrastructure
  • Case Studies in Maritime Resilience – Hurricanes Maria, Ike and Harvey
  • Insurance and Resilience of Maritime Infrastructure

Learn more by visiting the event website. Questions? Please email Andrea Whitesell. Register for the event here.

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