RIYADH: The Saudi International Maritime Forum will launch its second edition in Jeddah from Nov. 15 to 17, organized by the Royal Saudi Naval Forces. More than 37 leaders and heads of authorities concerned with the marine environment will participate, along with the navies of 15 other countries, military specialists, and academics from inside and outside the Kingdom. The forum is held under the title “Protecting Against Unmanned Systems” and aims to exchange views and discuss the challenges facing marine units and coastal sites, ways to protect them, and how to deal with threats and their impact on the global economy to ensure the safety of sea lanes. The forum will hold sessions with interested parties, military specialists, technology experts, and academics, as well as ministries, government agencies, and international companies. HIGH LIGHT The forum will witness an accompanying exhibition in which the most prominent local, regional and international companies will participate, displaying the latest equipment, technologies and systems in the field of maritime security. It will also witness an accompanying exhibition in which the most prominent local, regional and international companies will participate, displaying the latest equipment, technologies and systems in the field of maritime security. The forum’s speakers will discuss five main strategic axes. In the first session, they will address the development of counter-unmanned systems, and in the second, they will discuss military alliances and their role in confronting the threat of unmanned systems. The speakers of the third session will discuss the topic of artificial intelligence and cyber security to protect against unmanned systems, and in the fourth session, the topic of cooperation between the military and civil sectors to protect against unmanned naval systems will be discussed. In the last session, speakers will discuss the topic of protecting infrastructure and energy sources. Among the most prominent speakers of the forum are the Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Naval Forces Admiral Mohammed Amjad Khan Niazi. Commander of the 150th Mixed Force in Bahrain, Rear Admiral Abdullah bin Mutaib Al-Mutairi, and Royal Navy Commodore Ben Aldous will also be among the attendees. The list of speakers also includes Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization Kitack Lim, Senior Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Dr. Malcolm Davis, Director of the Center for Intelligence and Security and Studies at the University of Akron Professor Karl Kaltenthaler, and the president of the KSF Space Foundation.