Commonwealth Maritime Domain Awareness Summit 2026
Updated: 3 hours ago
The Commonwealth Security & Resilience Group was delighted to convene the highly successful second annual Commonwealth Maritime Domain Awareness Summit, alongside the Royal Canadian Navy | Marine royale canadienne, in Vancouver, Canada on 3-4 June 2026.
The Summit built on recommendations from the most recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, as well as the first Commonwealth MDA Summit held in London.
Our keynote speaker, Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, set the tone for two days of discussion, underlining the importance of sovereignty, effective international cooperation, and the role that innovation and private sector technology can play in strengthening Maritime Domain Awareness capability.
Across the Summit, our panels explored the breadth and depth of MDA: IUU fishing, the cyber-maritime domain, the emergence of AI, critical underwater infrastructure, shipping, and the golden thread that connected them all — the urgent need to improve information sharing and our collective ability to respond to threats. Threats to national security; threats to economic prosperity; and threats to the welfare of those at sea.
The message was clear: while challenges are mounting, and vulnerabilities linked to increased digital exposure continue to grow, Commonwealth leaders, organisations and partners are ready to respond — supported by world-class expertise, practical cooperation, and the very best of new innovation.
Commonwealth cooperation continues to showcase remarkable thinking power: experts, practitioners and leaders operating at the forefront of MDA thought leadership and innovation, and open to the technologies that will shape the maritime security landscape of the future.
We are deeply grateful to all our panellists, sponsors, supporters and partners for their engagement and invaluable contribution to two days of rich and timely discussion.
We look forward to building on the outcomes of Vancouver as we continue to advance a practical Commonwealth agenda for Maritime Domain Awareness.
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