MMOWGLI Portal

Hanson Wade Combating Piracy Conference, Workshop

2012-10-23T16:43:24Z

The Hanson-Wade Combating Piracy Conference in London England, 22-26 October 2012, includes the following workshop about the piracyMMOWGLI game. MMOWGLI sessions are held Monday and Wednesday afternoons.

Announcement flyer
Conference session slideset (also as .pdf),
Full-detail workshop slideset (also as .pdf), these files are large

All conference attendees are invited to play the game, change the game!

Using Serious Games and Simulation as Collaborative Tools to Fight Piracy

We all know piracy is a hard problem. It is even harder when major stakeholders are dispersed all over the globe. The need to work together has never been more important, and modern technology allows for such efforts. This workshop will report on the use of social networking tools and simulation by multiple partners to fight piracy.

By attending this workshop you will learn:

How “serious games” can help fight piracy by enabling everyone to get their ideas voiced
How idea generation can lead to valuable action plans
How these action plans can be used to solve or better analyse key issues
How modelling and simulation can provide experimental analysis and cost savings for the maritime community.

You will leave with a clear understanding of:

Which key piracy related issues are facing organisations, military, and policy makers... and how to best tackle them
How to encourage innovative thinking, across numerous organisations and groups, for strategy development

Goal Outcome

Even more maritime professionals begin to play piracyMMOWGLI and improve international counter-piracy efforts.

Workshop Leader

Don Brutzman, Associate Professor, MOVES Institute, Naval Postgraduate School

Dr. Brutzman is a computer scientist and retired U.S. Navy Submariner. He and his team developed the web-based Massive Multiplayer Online War Game Leveraging the Internet (MMOWGLI) serious game.

New Look for Idea Cards

2012-09-29T15:19:05Z

If you are a seasoned MMOWGLI veteran you may notice something different about our game. The PLAY AN IDEA interface for top-level Idea Cards now has a left-to-right orientation. Older cards are featured on the left hand side of the screen. To see the latest card played, simply scroll to the left. This new posititioning allows users to scroll through ideas with ease.

We think this layout is more usable, allowing easier browsing and comparison of key ideas. While in the game, click on any card to see the reaction ideas which have been played.

Previous MMOWGLI games featured a vertical Idea Card orientation. This was harder to use since some cards could scroll beyond the viewable browser page, and previous/later card relationships were hard to follow.

Please take a moment to get a feel for our new look. Care to comment? Feedback is welcome via a Trouble Report. We hope this helps everyone to play the game, change the game!

Have We Reached a "Piracy Equilibrium"?

2012-09-27T22:35:38Z

In most disciplines ranging from economics to mathematics, a point of dynamic balance almost always exists. Determining that middle ground in which both sides reach a standoff (or an agreement), or the conditions in of a particular system in which competing influences are balanced, is very significant. Recent data on piracy activity then invites an important question for everyone: "Have we reached a 'piracy equilibrium'?"

(Image: http://www.bized.co.uk/learn/economics/maths/index.htm?page=13)

Recent articles on pirate activity off the coast of Somalia all echo the same sentiment: pirate activity is down. In addition, the number of hostages currently being held is relatively low/stable, and overall the Somali pirates' reach into the Indian Ocean has greatly diminished. The most often cited "causes" for these new statistics is the almost overnight adaptation of Privately Armed Security Personnel (PASCP) onboard vessels traveling through the region. Effectiveness of naval patrols in the region as well as an increase in compliance with Best Management Practices (BMP) are also referenced.

During this next phase of piracyMMOWGLI 2012, we are exploring and countering the following questions:

Challenges

Future Goals

How can counter-piracy forces keep pirate activity at this lower level?

This is a great time to pause and reflect on the ground gained in anti-piracy efforts -- what exactly got us to this point? Are we winning the fight against piracy? Are we sure? What "lessons learned" can we extract? What unintended consequences of our actions could arise (if any)? What about the spread of piracy to west Africa?

Voice your thoughts to these questions and more today. Play the game, change the game!

Horn of Africa Piracy -- NY Times

2013-01-27T17:43:06Z

Acts of piracy in the treacherous waters around the Horn of Africa have fallen sharply in 2012, according to statistics released by the United States Navy. The Navy credits aggressive patrolling by international forces and increased vigilance by the commercial shipping industry for the decrease. [...]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/29/world/africa/piracy-around-horn-of-africa-has-plunged-us-says.html

Vessel Self Protection

2012-08-29T13:58:29Z

As discussed in the previous blog post, pirate attacks by Somali pirates were significantly lower in the first half of 2012 compared to the year before. This is believed to be a result of wider adoption of best management practices (BMP), pre-emptive and disruptive counter-piracy tactics employed by naval forces in the region, and the increased use of Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel (PCASP). While recent successes may lead to a belief that Somali pirates no longer pose the serious threat to commercial and recreational shipping as they once did, international navies have warned that these gains are fragile and reversible if complacency sets in.

So far, participants in piracyMMOWGLI 2012 have discussed current challenges and future goals, as well as developed action plans, related to Naval Operations and Regional Capacity Building. These Ideas and Action Plans can still be viewed and discussed for registered users. Now the time has come to discuss the current challenges and future role of vessel self-protection in countering piracy. We will discuss the following with regard to vessel self-protection:

Challenges:

At least 20% of vessels in the High Risk Area are not compliant with Best Management Practices (BMP). Compliance of BMP should be mandatory.

Coastal States in the High Risk Area should do more to protect merchant shipping.

Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel (PCASP) lack sufficient oversight.

Future Goals:

Insurance companies should better incentivize vessels to comply with Best Management Practices (BMP).

BMP is an industry self-regulation guide-and each ship should only be subject to specific Ship Secuirty Plans.

Protection of vessels is a responsibility of Flag and Trading Nations. PCASP should not be institutionalized.

This fall, vessel self-protection will also be on the international counter-piracy agenda with several meetings scheduled to discuss the legal and regulatory aspects of using PCASP. Until recently, the use of armed guards onboard merchant vessels was seen as a last resort and opposed by most flag states, industry and seafarer organizations. However, since no vessel carrying PCASP onboard has officially been hijacked, their use has become widespread in a very short period of time. So short in fact, that the development of a universally agreed upon regulation framework has lagged behind the increase in their use.

Although industry groups oppose what they call an ‘institutionalization of armed guards’, there is a call for clear guidance and standardization from all sides of the counter-piracy spectrum and the issue has been discussed in the IMO Maritime Safety Committee, the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia and at industry-led meetings. At the same time, some regional countries have been calling for a revision of the BMP’s High Risk Area as the range of Somali pirates has decreased following the navies’ targeting of larger motherships.

In this phase of piracyMMOWGLI 2012 we are going to discuss questions such as whether or not PCASP and vessel hardening are the best long-term solutions to piracy; if insurance companies should do more to incentivize vessels to comply with BMP; whether or not compliance with BMP should be mandatory and the role and responsibilities of flag states and large shipping and trading nations to protect merchant vessels on the high seas.

Join the discussion!

Author: Jens Vestergaard Madsen

Success at Sea...

2012-07-24T19:28:42Z

Headlines pertinent to piracy off the cost of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden are hailing international piracy efforts as ‘successful’ as incidents of piracy dip significantly in the first quarter of 2012.

According to figures cited by the IMB PRC, the first half of 2012 has yielded 69 recorded instances of piracy (13 hijackings), compared with 163 instances in the first quarter of 2011. The decrease in the number of pirate attacks is attributed to the adoption of best maritime security practices (BMP), pre-emptive and disruptive counter-piracy tactics employed by naval forces in the region, and the increased use of private maritime security companies.

While the decrease in piracy instances is certainly not something to be overlooked and members of the international navies in the region should be congratulated on their tremendous efforts to keep sea lanes safe, premature celebration is dangerous given other existing factors that could undermine gains at sea.

TFG Mandate Expiration Looming-Grim reports are now surfacing of Somalia’s political process ‘getting delayed’ as the mandate for the UN-backed transitional government sets to expire on 20 August 2012. Tribal elders should have chosen members of a constituent assembly that would be tasked with making way for Somalia’s constitution and choosing governing body. However, the power and authority that lies with tribal elders to impact Somalia’s future is being ransomed. Names for the new assembly will not be handed over until tribal leaders are given a greater role in government. Questions of whether or not the 20 August deadline can be met remain widespread.

Corruption-As a new governing body is to be chosen in the future, millions of dollars intended for the TFG have gone missing. In addition, direct links of pirate leader Mohamed Abdi Hassan ‘Afweyne’ to President Sheik Sheriff Sheik Ahmed amid a diplomatic passport scandal is making news. How can piracy be brought to an end if pirate ties with government officials and corruption strengthens?

Hostages, Not Attacks- According to the IMB PRC, reports 174 hostages and 11 vessels are currently being held by Somali pirates (updated 16 July 2012). Subject to inhumane physical and psychological abuse, hostages of pirate hijackings can be held for years at a time without any sort of counseling when (and if) rescue occurs. Records indicate 108 instances of piracy from January-March 2012 according to the IMB PRC, a slight increase from respective 2011 figures. Finding a successful method to rescue hostages held off the Coast of Somalia, should be included in efforts to mitigate attacks.

The delicate dynamics of the piracy problem extend beyond Somalia’s coastal waters. Success starts at sea, but the sustainability of that success must derive from Somalia itself. Join the discussion now on Regional Capacity Building and help turn the tide on piracy!

The Latest on Regional Capacity Building

2012-07-24T19:29:31Z

As the pirates have become increasingly unsuccessful due to the efforts by navies and the self-protection measures by the shipping industry, focus has been shifting towards how to build regional and Somali capacity to sustainably counter the piracy threat once the two large coalition navy mandates expire by the end of 2014. Several initiatives are already building capacity in the region, such as the IMO Djibouti Code of Conduct and the spring of 2012 has seen the announcement and launch of a large-scale EU training program (EUCAP NESTOR) as well as discussions about, and potential shut-down of, a large public/private initiative called the Puntland Maritime Police Force. At the same time, the CGPCS is working on how to coordinate and de-conflict the many ongoing and planned efforts in order to promote transparency and maximize the effects of scarce resources and the IMO held a dedicated capacity-building conference in London in May.

The overarching question, therefore, is what a transition from internationally-led counter-piracy efforts to a regional solution could and should look like. Other relevant questions include:

·How can we determine requirements for regional capability?

·How can we determine requirements for Somali capability?

·How do we integrate regional/clan-based/and private legacy programs into overall Somali capacity?

·What are the dangers associated with building Somali maritime capacity?

·What should be the level of cooperation between regional/local navies and private security?

·How can regional navies assume leadership of info sharing/common operating picture and command structure for naval operations?

·How can regional organizations be developed over the next 2 years to assume greater responsibility for Naval and Law Enforcement Operations? (Which organizations would be best suited for this?)

·What law enforcement capacity needs to be built in regional nations in order to transition from operational navies to rule of law?

Join the discussion on piracyMMOWGLI and participate in developing new ideas and action plans to address the challenges and opportunities associated with successfully building regional capacity.

The-Author: Jens Vestergaard Madsen

Regional Capacity Building - Goals and Challenges

2012-07-10T18:03:44Z

The next topic for discussion is Regional Capacity Building, defined by Oceans Beyond Piracy as "the leadership role in transitioning counter-piracy operations to regional nations, through developing operational training programs, and capacity-building and establishing cooperation and coordination mechanisms."

The Independent Assessment Report section on Regional Response notes that initial gains have been achieved in Maritime Situational Awareness. International efforts are now better coordinated through the TRADE mechanism. However, multiple regional efforts can benefit from being better harmonized.

To explore these challenges and future goals, the following top-level seed cards have been added that focus dialog on actionable lines of effort.

Challenges:

Future Goals:

We are now examining these issues in greater detail. Your opinions are needed! Please join in the game and sound off on these important topics.

Moving Naval Operations Discussions from Idea Cards to Action Plans

2012-10-22T02:48:39Z

piracyMMOWGLI had a successful first week discussing the Naval Operations line of effort. Many interesting ideas have been discussed, including the navies role, how the navies and private security companies can effectively cooperate, and training somalis to patrol an established EEZ. There have been over 200 idea cards contributed and now its time to turn the ideas into implementable plans of action.

Action plans are the crux of piracyMMOWGLI: this is where the best idea chains are combined to form a detailed plan that can be used to help shape future policy and decision discussion. To contribute on building an action plan, find the action plans you wish to participate by clicking on the ‘Take Action’ tab in the upper right corner of the main screen view and request to join.

Follow the link to learn more about developing Action Plans.
The following are the current action plans needing your contributions

* Improving information sharing and cooperation between private maritime security companies and navies.

* What should the role of Navies be from now to the end of 2014 and beyond?

* Enforcement of Somali Fishing Zones by exercising MARSEC capacity building

* Implementation of a Naval Quarantine

If you see other actionable ideas you want to generate action plans for, you can request to create an action plan using this link.

Game Update!

2012-06-21T14:53:59Z

The piracyMMOWGLI 2012 game has launched to a great start. As part of the initial theme Naval Operations, we have seeded the discussion with 7 key questions. Our goal is to keep player communications focused on issues of primary interest. Here are the initial questions for this round:

Challenges:

Future Goals:

Over 200 thought-provoking idea cards have been played in the first two days. Many new questions are emerging as well. For example, the initial question (Idea Card 1) has generated lots of interest. Here is how it appears inside the game:

Game results are also published online once or twice each day as the game proceeds. For example, you can also refer to Idea Card 3 on the portal, outside of the game:

Thanks for the excellent and informative discussion so far! Soon we will broaden the field of view to include Action Plans.

piracyMMOWGLI 2012 game is underway

2012-06-18T16:48:46Z

After lots of preparation, the new piracyMMOWGLI 2012 game is up and running! We're excited about this progress since this is the first long-duration game in the Massive Multiplayer Online War Game Leveraging the Internet (MMOWGLI) series. We will publicly publish results several times each week.

The piracyMMOWGLI 2012 game is for maritime professionals exploring how to best counter the scourge of international maritime piracy. Together we're proposing new Idea Card Chains and Action Plans to work together more effectively.

Piracy is a complex problem with many stakeholders involved from many fields of work. Each week we examine a new Line of Effort from the Independent Assessment Report by Oceans Beyond Piracy. Your contributions matter! Please join us for 30 minutes each week to consider the possibilities.

Naval Operations is this week's topic. You can check the Piracy Blog for game news and the Piracy MMOWGLI Games page for prior games. The Game Wiki has even more information about piracy.

Thanks for all contributions. Play the game, change the game!

Updated game plan for piracyMMOWGLI

2012-06-18T04:15:23Z

In the last days of May 2012 we had an excellent meeting at Oceans Beyond Piracy headquarters near Denver Colorado. Together we have prepared an excellent game plan for the upcoming relaunch of a long-running piracyMMOWGLI game. We will be examining and challenging the Lines of Effort found in their Independent Assessment Report on maritime piracy.

Our piracyMMOWGLI 2012 Call To Action video illustrates the importance of these topics. We will be asking professionals to spend 30 minutes each week considering key questions facing the anti-piracy community. Details are kept up-to-date on the Piracy MMOWGLI Games page. The first weekly Line of Effort is Naval Operations.

The "slow start" exercise this past month was useful. The next round of activity will be more dynamic as we prepare the foundation for long-term community efforts. Details and next steps are available on the Piracy MMOWGLI Games page. Invitations go out soon to support an 18 June 2012 relaunch. We're excited about these great developments! Stay tuned for further progress.

Piracy MMOWGLI: How to play in May

2012-05-06T09:17:53Z

Start by browsing through the idea cards:

In the current game, the top level cards are already set and players can’t yet add new top level cards. However you are encouraged to help assess past Action Plans and enter your reactions to the various top-level action plan cards. We will cover a new set of Action Plans during each week in May.

Select a top-level card, then click on the link to review an Action Plan:

Learning about a prior Action Plan: here is another example.

Now enter a new card to post feedback about any Action Plan that interests you. Please focus on plans that most deserve attention.

Say what you think about how this plan might get better, why it might not work, or else simply state why it is a good plan that is worth pursuing.

Navigate the cards and Idea Dashboard to see what other people are saying about the Action Plan. You can play off of their ideas too.

Expand, counter, adapt or explore the possibilities. Clicking on any of the four colored headers lets you type in a new card.

Interesting conversations and card chains emerge when players consider important issues.

The key to this round of the game is to evaluate the prior action plans and determine which ones are worth further exploration. We hope to learn together how this new community of anti-piracy professionals and experts can further develop them.

How will you play the game, change the game?

Anchors aweigh mateys, Piracy MMOWGLI 2012 has launched

2012-05-21T00:46:10Z

The Piracy MMOWGLI 2012 game is up and running for invited experts. If you have received an invitation message, please create an account at mmowgli.nps.edu/piracy to begin. Here is our Call To Action for the game:

Somali piracy is a serious international problem that affects many nations, industries and individuals. During 2011, many people from the general public played the Piracy MMOWGLI Games to explore how to best combat piracy. Latest game news is found on our Piracy Game Blog.

Now it is the professional's turn. Experts from the international community are joining together to build a community, brainstorm good ideas, and collaborate on new action plans. During May we will examine, discuss and rate most the interesting aspects of past work. During June we will examine the Independent Assessment Report by Oceans Beyond Piracy.

We have begun "slow start" evaluation of Piracy 2011.1 MMOWGLI Action Plans. Please select idea cards of interest and comment on the top 2011 plans that you think are interesting. Play the game, change the game!

Preparing for action: Piracy MMOWGLI and Energy MMOWGLI Games 2012

2012-04-26T01:27:47Z

Three public MMOWGLI sessions in 2011 explored anti-piracy strategies. All were very interesting. Over 2100 people contributed their time and talent, brainstorming 15,000 Idea Cards and collaboratively building 68 Action Plans. Since then our team has been hard at work solidifying this open-source Web-based game platform to perform even better.

On May Day, 1 May 2012, we plan to launch a new Piracy MMOWGLI game. This private game will only be open to professionals and experts who work in the maritime industries, government and academia. Can we take online collaborations for fighting piracy to the next level?

Piracy MMOWGLI 2012 will first consider ideas and Action Plans produced in the original game sessions. We will continue with Oceans Beyond Piracy and use the OBP Independent Assessment, exploring Current Trends and corresponding Lines of Effort to combat international piracy. Themes of interest include Naval Operations, Vessel Self-Protection, Relieving the Plight of Seafarers, Messaging Campaign, Regional Response, Somali Engagement, Rule of Law, and Coordination Process. Additional special topics will also be considered during this longer-duration game.

Players can also expect another public game to follow in the near future. Energy MMOWGLI will bring together players to consider ways to reduce the U.S. Navy's heavy reliance on a finite, expensive and unreliable supply of fossil fuels. Please register to sign up for the Energy MMOWGLI game.

Thanks for your interest. Play the game, change the game!

CENIC Conference Presentation

2012-04-16T20:56:00Z

MMOWGLI Game Technical Overview (available as presentation and abstract) was given at the CENIC 2012 "Beyond the Network" conference in Palo Alto California 12 March 2012. This talk by Don Brutzman covers "Challenges and Lessons for Social Networking using Wide-Area Networking: Building and Running the Massive Multiplayer Online Wargame Leveraging the Internet (MMOWGLI) Project." CENIC is the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California.

MARLO Conference Presentation

2012-05-22T14:20:10Z

Web-Based Methodologies for Addressing Somali Piracy by Rebecca Law, Chad Hutchins and Don Brutzman was presented at the U.S. Navy Maritime Liaison Office (MARLO) Annual Symposium held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), 30 January 2012. An abstract is also available.

This talk presents a serious value proposition for the international community: to engage in a long-term MMOWGLI collaboration game against piracy. We can examine idea chains and action plans produced in previous games, and collaborate as a group to further explore innovative approaches to combat piracy.

Multiple stakeholder communities are involved: diplomatic, military, maritime industry, insurance industry, and others. Informed dialog by individuals with different kinds of expertise can help build new cross-cutting solutions to shared challenges and wicked problems.

Session Bravo is....closed

2011-11-14T00:29:57Z

#MMOWGLI session-Bravo players:

You did it—you became a Superhero network. Your ideas were insightful, provocative, original, and sometimes deeply personal. And your collaborations were epic, truly demonstrating what a group of diverse thinkers can accomplish working together. Your work will be shared with Navy leadership in the coming weeks.

To wrap up session-Bravo, we will post & tweet awards and final leaderboards, statistics about gameplay, and more analysis. Keep following the Twitter stream (@MMOWGLI) for these updates.

—Gamemaster Jason and the entire MMOWGLI team

(Photo used under CC-license from Flickr user Joelk75)

Preparing for Recovery, Resilience winners of the mini-challenge

2011-11-13T22:23:39Z

On Thursday we launched an extra challenge about preparing future Navy leaders for the operations—and politics—of the recovery and resilience decade.

Pepper1 proposes a collaboration with the intel community to predict how leaders of disaster-prone countries would react to outside assistance:

Bravosierra2010 also speaks of collaboration, between military and civil sector groups to get more disaster supplies and reconstruction equipment into affected areas

Pepper1 really took to this challenge and worked upstream. This idea starts preparing future Navy leaders while they're still in college with new curriculum on disaster relief and resilience operations

While Deytel builds on Pepper1's idea and puts this training in the NROTC program

Congrats to all of the winners for forward-thinking ideas to prepare the Navy for the world of 2021.

—Gamemaster Jason

9 great Adapt-ations played so far

2011-11-13T20:10:34Z

I've been wanting to post some great uses of Build cards, and I'll start with Adapt.

Our basic directive for Adapt is Take this idea in a different direction, and I've come to think of this as the 'mutation' card. An Adapt card starts with a promising idea rooted in one domain and applies that core newness to something else entirely. I've seen some great Adapt cards that cross-fertilize between military, commercial, and public sectors.

We only have a couple hours left in MMOWGLI; if you're in the game, work to Adapt one card before the close.

—Gamemaster Jason