During the collaborative
workshop series known as ColoRS, researchers from the U.S.
and U.K.
worked to address mutual national security and safety issues.
Most recently, those impacting our coastal and marine environments.
The ColoRS program
is rooted in a specific methodology that follows a three step process.
First, the execution team identifies a mutual area of concern.
The scientific approach is to address it and the appropriate subject matter
experts to invite as participants.
The bulk of the work happens in the second phase.
This is where the entire ColoRS
team engages in the brainstorming sessions to define the scope of the issue
and develop possible solutions to address and mitigate the common challenge.
Then they develop concept papers outlining their findings
and present them to the group for feedback.
In the third and final phase, the ColoRS team analyzes internal team
feedback and incorporates relevant points to formalize research questions.
These research questions are then submitted to officials in both governments
as recommendations for the potential areas of future R&D investment.
In a recent ColoRS workshop, the team met to discuss how autonomous marine sensor
technologies could be part of a solution for maritime safety and security.
Their energies were focused on four major challenges shared by both the U.S.
and the UK in the waters off their coasts.
The challenges were: improve maritime domain awareness
capabilities, mitigate smuggling of both people and goods,
reduce illegal migration, deter and curb illegal fishing.
The research resulting from the ColoRS Workshop series will help target future
R&D investments and provide a significant impact on maritime safety
and national security in both the U.S.
and the UK.