Toward an international database for maritime search and rescue

This paper* develops a concept of the world&s first international database (DB) of maritime search and rescue (SAR). It expands on Rovetto&s earlier work, summarizing work to date, envisioning possible directions, introducing use cases, foreshadowing ongoing developments, and calling for greater cooperation from the global SAR community. DB features, architectures, and other aspects are discussed. The anticipated benefits of the described project include (i) improving information sharing, (ii) contributing to similar efforts, (iii) knowledge preservation, (iv) innovation, and (v) making sea rescue safer by sharing knowledge. Parallel work includes specialized techniques and products in artificial intelligence, namely, knowledge management, modeling, and representation. The application of these technologies is introduced, moving us from a maritime SAR DB to a knowledgebase, forming a project presently called "Know-SAR." Readers may contribute content to an online prototype of the DB, or offer constructive input, via dedicated webpages: A simple prototype is accessible via https://purl.org/know-sar (description page with other links) or directly via https://purl.org/knowsar-contribute (as a public-facing testbed for user-supplied contributions). Together, we can save lives at sea through sharing knowledge.