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New ADAC Executive Counselor, Ms. Gail Schubert, President and CEO, Bering Straits Native Corporation.  We are pleased and greatly honored that earlier today, Ms. Schubert accepted our invitation to join our amazing group of Executive Counselors (otherwise known as our Board of Advisors).  Gail, always a voice of remarkable wisdom and insight at ADAC conferences and workshops is a remarkable Alaskan Arctic leader. In addition to leading Bering Straits Native Corporation, Ms. Schubert is also an esteemed leader within the Alaska Federation of Natives.  We look forward to listening and learning from Gail over the coming weeks, months and beyond. For a listing of ADAC’s other Executive Counselors, please see https://arcticdomainawarenesscenter.org/ExecutiveCounselors

New ADAC research underway.  ADAC is pleased to relay our comprehensive effort to for Alaskan and Arctic Maritime Communications and Connectivity Analysis is well underway, with Project Champion kickoff and Initial Core Team meetings now completed. More to come from our project team at ADAC's next research review.

New website forRemote Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Inspection and Response Team Development in the Bering Strait Region. Led by Dr. Jessica Garron at the UAF hosted Alaska Center for Unmanned Systems Integration (ACUASI), the team is well underway in integrating remote sensing tools into the operational environment of remote, sparsely populated, western Alaska.  We believe this project has the potential to increase the efficiency of USCG infrastructure inspection missions, while supporting the expansion of community Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) capacity. Please see their project page athttps://arcticdomainawarenesscenter.org/P29_UAS

New planned ADAC Research. ADAC has an additional project in draft, titled Arctic Facilities and Infrastructure Environmental Change Risk Index. This project is focused on characterizing conditions and enabling USCG Decision support/risk management on Arctic coastal infrastructure and facilities.  ADAC intends this project will provide decision support products oriented to the U.S. Arctic coastal regions of the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. The planned project team will coordinate with experts in the soil and permafrost composition of Arctic Coastal regions and identify associated permafrost degradation and erosion modelers and seeks to create (and publish) three knowledge products: a comprehensive Arctic facilities and infrastructure environmental change knowledge product, operationally relevant Arctic facilities and infrastructure environmental change risk index, and Arctic inspector and responder structural environmental impacts training guide. We are hoping to get this important work started in early March.

Current (near term) line-up for ADAC related workshops. Please see details at https://arcticdomainawarenesscenter.org/Events

1. ASLS21. ADAC is pressing hard in finalizing the invitation only Alaskan Command Arctic Senior Leader Summit 2021 (ASLS21), planned for 10-11 March 2021 as a virtual experience. ASLS21 Day 1 is a plenary session of keynote and panel presentations. ASLS21 Day 2 is a CANUS Military session tabletop exercise oriented towards crisis decision support.
2. Arctic C-ICE. ADAC’s Arctic Challenges, Innovations, and Commerce Expo (Arctic CICE) is planned as a virtual event for 16-17 March 2021. This event seeks to explore the networks, resources, and infrastructure needed to enable the commercial entrance of Arctic-related products and technologies into the Arctic domain. This expo will use an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to foster conversations around Arctic-centered business pressure points, state-of-the-Arctic-focused R&D, gap analysis of investment and innovation, and the future of business in the region.
3. ACCUSARS II. In partnership with the North American and Arctic Defense and Security Network (NAADSN), ADAC previously announced to registrants and via the U.S. Arctic Research Commission Arctic Daily Update, the Advancing Collaboration in Canada-U.S. Arctic Regional Security (ACCUSARS) II workshop has been rescheduled to 25-26 March 2021 as a virtual event. The purpose of ACCUSARS II is to create a subset Strategic Foresight Assessment (SFA) for the North American Arctic, by specifically focusing on Alaska and Western Canada.
4. Arctic Maritime Horizons. In partnership with HQ USCG Director of Maritime Transportation Systems and Senior Arctic Policy Advisor, are creating a tabletop exercise planned as an in-event for 4-6 May 2021 in Anchorage Alaska focused organized to address policy, plans and initiatives to support HQ USCG and the Coast Guard Enterprise in addressing the 2019 USCG Arctic Strategic Outlook (ArcSO) task to “Advance and Modernize the Arctic Marine Transportation System.” Due to COVID19, ADAC has been forced to reschedule this exercise 5 times, seeking to make this an in-person event. Since COVID immunizations are now underway, ADAC and USCG are hopeful this fifth scheduling will finally result in being able to proceed with the event.

Next Wilson-ADAC Arctic Security Dialogues: 31 March 2021, 1-3 PM Eastern Time. Addressing the new dynamics of the Arctic maritime (draft title). This U.S. Coast Guard focused Arctic Security Dialogue, jointly hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Center Polar Institute and ADAC will be the third of a series of the security dialogues and provides a great opportunity to hear from a multidiscipline community of Arctic leaders on the changing conditions and updated priorities in policy and measures to address U.S., Allied and partner security in the Arctic region. Stay tuned for more in the coming days.