National Maritime Interagency Advisory Group (NIAG)

NMIO hosts approximately 8-10 National Maritime Interagency Advisory Group (NIAG) forums annually. NIAGs bring together a diverse set of partners from our Global Maritime Community of Interest, and the NIAG structure is subordinate to the Maritime Domain Awareness Executive Steering Committee (MDA-ESC). 

Due to the far-reaching impact of COVID-19 on the global economy and its associated effects on the maritime industry, the most recent NIAG’s purpose was to identify information sharing obstacles and best practices, and to share these observations and solutions with stakeholders.  The event took a broad view of the industry, with panelist representation from cruise lines, port operations, and inland waterways.

On 30 September 2020, the MDA ESC, in conjunction with the Maritime Administration (MARAD), virtually hosted the annual industry-focused NIAG.  The intent of the event was to gather and share creative solutions for managing operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, and identify common interests and opportunities for effective information sharing between government and the maritime industry. Participants included approximately 150 people from the following maritime industry, US federal and local government organizations, academia, and foreign government and business entities. Recurrent themes included the value of established relationships among stakeholders, local coordination venues and developing a community of interest to address emergent issues.

Click images below for enlarged view, read the Summary of Conclusions