Maritime Domain Awareness Executive Steering Committee
The Maritime Domain Awareness Executive Steering Committee (MDA ESC) coordinates Federal whole-of-government policies, strategies, and initiatives and comprises senior executive-level principals designated by their respective cabinet-level departments (Departments of Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, State, and Transportation) as executive agents for MDA. The Director of the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office is the MDA ESC chair, provides staff for the MDA ESC executive director and executive secretary functions, and is the MDA ESC-designated maritime representative for the Intelligence Community.
Under the auspices of the National Maritime Domain Awareness Plan (NMDAP), the MDA ESC oversees and coordinates interagency collaboration on policy, activities, and initiatives to promote effective understanding of the maritime domain in accordance with the National Strategy for Maritime Security; prioritizes interagency MDA efforts; develops work plans; and implements the NMDAP. In addition, the MDA ESC leads Federal government efforts to address NMDAP objectives: (1) Connect and organize the stakeholders through governance, (2) Close or mitigate the nine National MDA Challenges, (3) Develop Enterprise-level access to maritime data, and (4) Conduct outreach in support of NMDAP objectives and goals.