The European Commission launched a new project to better facilitate the exchange of information on maritime security and safety issues.
The overall objective of the MAiDEN project (MAritime Information Data Exchange Network) is:
- to enhance sharing and automatically exchanging maritime information between the Belgian Coast Guard authorities holding maritime safety and maritime security information (= maritime information data);
- to constitute an important stepping-stone for an integrated data approach serving the purposes of maritime surveillance at national and European levels alike;
- to maximize maritime situational awareness, through the improvement of the interoperability of IT systems
The desired outcome of the MAiDEN project is an enhanced ICT system to be used at the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre (MRCC) and the Maritime Security Centre (MIK). This is based on making maximum use and re-use of the existing architecture that facilitates an optimized data exchange between the two centres and other Coast Guard authorities whilst respecting the legal framework, including confidentiality and non-disclosure requirements of the different Coast Guard authorities.
