On the 10th of April 2025 CISE-ALERT Project held its final event in Rome, marking the wrap-up of the project activities. The hybrid event was hosted by the Italian Space Agency – partner in the project and was attended (in person and online) by representatives of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE), European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), project partners and representatives of the CISE stakeholders’ community in Italy.
As a retrospection of the implemented tasks, the project partners have successfully tested CISE in an operational environment by deploying realistic scenarios dedicated to Drug trafficking, SAR, Pollution response, Pre-clearing operations, Illegal fishing, Protection of critical infrastructure and Illegal Immigration. The performed trials proved CISE as operational and ready to use, by validating the efficacy and interoperability of the CISE services in different maritime operational contexts.
The project partners formulated some of the key lessons-learned from the project implementation. At strategic level, the success of CISE relies heavily on robust engagement at national level, involving various authorities and organizations committed to sharing a broad spectrum of maritime information. Identifying the types of data to be accessed or provided, along with the specific organizations for potential information exchange, help in tailoring the CISE operational strategies to the real needs of the EU maritime community. Furthermore, a focus was put on the necessity of allocating dedicated time and resources effective participation in CISE by bridging operational and technical expertise for synchronizing efforts and facilitating communications.
From operational point of view, it was stressed on the importance of designing operational services that are closely aligned with the specific needs of maritime operations,
ensuring that operational and technical teams collaborate closely to developed services both practical and efficient. Another important lesson is that engaging with targeted organizations is vital to confirm the feasibility of the data exchange within the CISE framework, ensuring that the information shared is useful and that the technical specifications are compatible with existing systems.
Key conclusion from the project implementation is that the effective use of the CISE network is greatly enhanced by EMSA tools. Comprehensive training sessions help participants understand and utilize these tools effectively. And last, but not least, the integration between CISE network and MARSUR network could enhance the contribution of defense authorities to EU maritime situational awareness. The CISE-ALERT project has significantly demonstrated the use of CISE in the maritime domain awareness for improving decision-making capabilities, and facilitating coordinated responses across different jurisdictions and sectors. The project has paved the way to the fully operational use of CISE and its key deliverables will serve as an example and know-how to help the entire CISE community to step-up their efforts in that direction.
