The Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA) and the Virgin Islands Fusion Center (Fusion Center) announce the successful completion of the Territory's 2nd Annual Emerging Threats Symposium.
The two-day symposium, held on [Nov 14th and 15th], brought together private and public sector organizations for comprehensive presentations and table-top exercises focused on emerging threats and intelligence gathering. The event, hosted on St. Thomas, welcomed stakeholders from across the territory, with special attendance by the Honorable Governor Albert Bryan Jr.
Ms. Patricia Potter, Symposium Coordinator, shared that compared to last year, preparation was more extensive as “This year we focused on cybercrime, misinformation, and emerging technology while discussing new patterns and trends in transnational crimes. We focused a lot on the presence of Artificial Intelligence and how adversaries and criminal actors can use it despite its intent for good.”
Building on last year's success, the symposium featured presentations from BIT, FBI & DEA covering critical topics including Cybercrime and misinformation used on practical applications through table-top exercises simulating multi-agency responses to security threats.
“For 2025, it is our desire to now prepare our community for emerging threats. We will complete this next phase by hosting a series of training courses for our public and private sector partners. This training will include preparation for Active Shooting Threats, Domestic Violence Extremism, Identifying Terrorist Mobilization, Cybersecurity, and Intelligence gathering training” explained Ms. Potter.
The symposium reinforces VITEMA's commitment to comprehensive emergency preparedness and the Fusion Center's role and as a source for coordination and contributions in support of critical intelligence sharing among law enforcement partners and key stakeholders.
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