Chair: Francesco Longo

Affiliation: University of Calabria (Italy)

Track Description: Freely flowing international trade, carried predominantly by ocean-going vessels, has been a major contributor to the global prosperity experienced in the second-half of the 20th century. In the U.S. and many countries worldwide, maritime traffic in ports and waterways is a critical component of national supply chains and the backbone of many economies. However, the proximity of major seaports to urban centers and the volume and diversity of seaport activities render them vulnerable targets, where even small incidents could have crippling economic effects. Increasingly important security operations must strike a balance between providing security and impeding the movement of cargo with the attendant economic costs, as any stoppage or appreciable slow-down in port operations impacts numerous supply chains, and extended stoppages necessitate diverting vessels to other ports, as was the case in the 2003 strike of longshoremen in the port complex of LA/LB.

The need to maintain efficient port operation sometimes conflicts with worldwide concerns about terrorism, drug smuggling and crime and with the resulting port security measures. This track will explore a wide variety of topics at the interface of port security, safety and port operations, with an emphasis on technical tools using mathematical modeling, risk analysis, and new algorithmic approaches to inspection of cargo, nuclear materials, vehicles entering ports, vessel movements in waterways and port operations. Such models can assist in analyzing the effectiveness of interdiction measures and the disruptive impact of high-consequence events in and around port complexes, as well as assessing the effectiveness of strategies to mitigate and recover from such events. These models can further help in effectively setting up the “Rules of the Road” in ports and waterways. The following areas are of interest to the Ports and Littoral Protection Track:

• Port security and/or safety risk analysis
• Port and waterway maritime traffic analysis and modeling
• Cargo screening and inspection algorithms
• Nuclear detection issues and algorithms
• Analysis of container delays and costs due to cargo inspection
• Cost and economic trade-off of port security
• Allocation of port security funds
• Effectiveness of CSI and C-TPAT cargo inspection and monitoring initiatives
• Vessel scheduling and sequencing in waterways and canals
• Analysis of vessel movements and delays in anchorages in ports
• Modeling of vessel arrivals at ports and waterways
• Accident probability modeling
• Port security value tree modeling
• Decision analysis and multi-objective trade-off models in port security analysis.

Please be sure to select “Ports and Littoral Protection” as main topic during the submission.

Co-Chairs: ^(a)Paolo Proietti, ^(b)Elaine Raybourn

Affiliation: ^(a)MIMOS (Italy), ^(b)Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico (USA)

Track Description: The commercial games sector is developing many of the key technologies and applications that have the potential for cost-effective adaptation for defence exploitation and use in modelling and simulation (M&S) applications, such as defence planning, training, operations and capabilities development. The exploitation of commercial gaming technologies and the appropriate use of open standards can provide efficiencies and increased benefits for defence applications.

Due to a growing need for flexibility and responsiveness in uncertain operational situations there is a strong demand for training on basic tactical procedures and situational management (often multi-national) rather than specific weapon systems training. Asymmetric warfare has dramatically changed the way we combat and face the enemy, often interfacing with civilians and adapting behaviours to accommodate different cultures. The purpose of this track is to explore commercial and games technologies, understand best practices, and to identify barriers to further exploitation and ways these barriers might be overcome. Please be sure to select “​Serious Games Effectiveness” as main topic during the submission.

Chair: Robert Sottilare

Affiliation: Soar Technology, Inc, Ann Arbor, (USA)

Track Description: Adaptive instruction (sometimes referred to as differentiated instruction) is a learning experience tailored to the needs and preferences of each individual learner or team in which strategies (plans for action) and tactics (actions by the tutor) are selected with the aim of optimizing learning, performance, retention, and the transfer of skills from the instructional environment to the work or operational environment. Adaptive instructional systems include technologies like Intelligent Tutoring Systems. Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) are computer-based, adaptive instructional applications that interpret learner, team and environmental data (usually without human intervention) to select and present content and feedback with the aim of optimizing learning, performance, retention, and transfer of skills. ITSs make instructional decisions based on learner states and attributes along with knowledge of the current instructional conditions. Relevant areas of research for adaptive instruction include: authoring tools, individual learner and team modeling, instructional modeling, domain modeling, instructional effectiveness, interaction design, ontology and architecture.

Please be sure to select “Adaptive Instruction” as main topic during the submission.

Chair: Małgorzata Gawlik-Kobylińska

Affiliation: University of Warsaw (Poland)

Track Description: Innovation in technologies and knowledge is vital for developing capabilities to address today’s internal security challenges, to anticipating threats and contributing to a more competitive security industry. An individual or collective response through development of tools and know-how is a key factor in combating and minimization of threats related to internal security. Modeling and simulation provides the backdrop to the action on the development of innovation. This Open Track welcomes interdisciplinary theoretical and empirical research embedding the issues of innovations from various disciplines which influence internal security and minimize military and non-military threats.

Please be sure to select “​Innovations for internal security” as main topic during the submission.

Co-Chairs: ^(a)Marco Biagini, ^(b)Joy Bruce

Affiliation: ^(a)NATO M&S COE (Italy), ^(b)Vastpark (USA)

Track Description: Social networks, crowd sourcing, powerful mobile devices and the latest M&S technologies associated with Virtual Worlds and Augmented Reality are key areas of innovation in designing a next generation of Simulation and Command and Control framework for the military M&S Domains. This framework can support Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Operations providing mobile services, tools and applications to support planning and execution activities at tactical and operational level in a Command and Control Network Centric Value Chain paradigms. Topics of interest include:

• Architecture driven security flow
• C4ISR M&S Emerging Technology for training, analysis and operational support
• Augmented Reality in military applications
• Command & Control and Social networks, Crowdsourcing applications to support desion making process
• Interoperable C2-SIM Languages (C-BML and MSDL)
• LVC-IA (Live, Virtual, Constructive) – Integrating Architecture (FEDEP – JMTEC)
• Virtual and Real Worlds interaction
• C4ISR systems stimulation using LVC simulators and Augmented reality techniques.

Please be sure to select “​Next generation C4ISR Modeling & Simulation technology: Mixed Reality, Crowdsourcing and Interoperable C2-LVC architectures to support operations, training, and analysis” as main topic during the submission.

Chair: Claudia Baisini

Affiliation: Department of War Studies, Swedish National Defence College (SNDC) (Swedish)

Track Description: The use of simulations and serious games have been so far mostly related to training of mechanical stimulus response skills (i.e. shoot / don’t shoot) or to the ‘reproduction’ of cultural issues in order to create a stimulus response phenomenon in the user. We suggest a more sophisticated employment of technology, one that exploits the potential of simulations in representing scenarios’ richness and complexity to be used to train cognitive capabilities and stimulate brain plasticity. In other words, we suggest that simulations should be used to challenge the user and train to ‘think better/be smarter’ rather than for providing answers on what to do, which in turn leads the user to think less and listen to the tool more. Through tailor made vignettes and exercises, carefully studied according to the effects that want to be achieved, the users’ mental models are challenged and stretched. We believe that the key issue for developing effective training is not ‘reproducing reality according to fidelity, which is centred around the engineer or researcher’s view of development,’. Rather, the key suggested here is the establishment of cognitive authenticity, achieved through the presentation of rich and complex problems that the users must ‘detangle’ in order to make sense of the situation.

Please be sure to select “Simulations as tools to develop intuitive contextual sensitivity, re-framing and mental agility” as main topic during the submission.

Co-Chairs: ^(a)Agostino Bruzzone, ^(b)Jean Guy Fontaine

Affiliation: ^(a)(b)NATO M&S COE (Italy)

Track Description: M&S result to be one critical enabling technology for advances in Autonomous Systems (i.e. UAV, UGV, AUV, UAS); this is especially important to support the change from Coordination among different robotics systems to Cooperation and Competition in this field. Indeed, it becomes more and more important to investigate within a synthetic environment models, algorithms, procedures and technologies to be applied in new scenarios where Autonomous vehicles and Intelligent Systems will have to face a more intense interaction in order to be able to execute more advanced tasks in a new mission environment. The authors are invited to contribute by submitting papers presenting innovative researches and experimentation addressing these issues. The topics of interest and application areas includes among the others:

• Architecture driven security flow.
• Robotics & Autonomous Systems.
• Intelligent Systems.
• Networks & Communications.
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
• Unmanned Surface Vehicles.
• Unmanned Ground Vehicles.
• Autonomous Underwater Systems.
• Intelligent Systems.
• Space Robotics.
• Swarm Technology.
• Robotics & Cyber Space.
• Intelligent Agents & Robotics.

This track is expected to serve as an opportunity for experts and scientists to get-together to discuss about new challenges and opportunities related to R&D (Research and Development) initiatives devoted to develop capabilities to collaborate among different autonomous systems as well as to operate in competitive environments; the new ideas and concepts discussed in this forum are expected to enhance the understanding of this framework as well as to support the construction of guidelines for the future of Intelligent & Autonomous Systems.

Please be sure to select “​Simulation for Autonomous & Intelligent Systems: moving from Coordination to Collaboration and Competition” as main topic during the submission.

Co-Chairs: ^(a)Edgar Alonso Lopez-Rojas, ^(b)Joni A. Amorim, ^(c)Richard Zaluski

Affiliation: ^(a)Simudyne Limited (United Kingdom), ^(b)University of Skövde (Sweden), ^(c)Center for Strategic Cyberspace + Security Science (Canada)

Track Description: A digitally interconnected world demands that we coordinate modeling and simulation into cyber security with the intent of helping organizations to secure their assets and find practical solutions for the critical issues of today. Modeling and simulation are essential to research, development and adoption of the next generation of technologies. Nevertheless, these technologies must be delivered to different industries in a close collaboration with academia through public-private partnerships. On the other hand, modeling and simulation are now key competencies to be incorporated by the security workforce. Security is sometimes an obscure topic because of the needs to preserve privacy but simulation is one possible way to address this issue. Examples of new approaches include agent based simulation and similar techniques that may be used to model behaviors, malicious or not. These simulations favor relevant discoveries while being commonly used to test current or experimental detection methods at low cost. In this way, the goal of this track is consider the state of the art in security within the perspective of simulation. Topics of interest include simulation in the following contexts:

• Architecture driven security flow.
• Certification processes for individuals.
• Cloud, big data, analytics and security.
• Cyber intelligence and profiling.
• Cyber security, cybercrime and fraud.
• Cyber warfare modeling and simulation.
• Denial of service.
• Disaster simulation and recovery planning.
• Discovery and awareness of new and current threats.
• Education and training.
• Financial transactions.
• Forensic computing.
• Information security.
• Intrusion detection.
• New approaches for security.
• Privacy and ‘anonymization’ techniques through simulation.

Please be sure to select “​Computer Simulation for Security” as main topic during the submission.

Co-Chairs: ^(a)Joaquin Garcia-Alfaro, ^(b)Francesco Longo

Affiliation: ^(a)Telecom Sud Paris (France), ^(b)MSC-LES – University of Calabria (Italy)

Track Description: Simulation is an essential tool for the study and analysis of security and dependability of Critical Information Infrastructures. It can be used to address properties such as disruption, disturbance and loss of information, and to anticipate incidents that could lead to situations involving economical, material and, even, human loss. This track aims to bring together latest research and application on modeling and simulation of critical infrastructures associated to both government and industrial companies. It seeks to discuss and exchange ideas related to new needs, approaches, methods and tools. The main topics, but not limited to, include:

• Attack and Vulnerability Analysis.
• Benchmarking and Statistical Analysis Tools.
• Continuity of Services.
• Dependable Communication Models.
• Early Warning Systems.
• Embedded Technologies Security.
• Fault Tolerance and Incident Response.
• Forensic Techniques and Monitoring.
• Internet-based Control of Remote Systems.
• SCADA/DCS and Control System Security.
• Secure Information Sharing.
• Security and Dependability Logistic Models.
• Self-healing, Self-protection, Self-management Architectures.
• Situation Awareness and Response Optimization.
• Threats and Attack Modeling.
• Trust Models in Critical Scenarios.

Please be sure to select “​Critical Systems Modeling and Simulation” as main topic during the submission.