International C2 Journal: Issues
Vol 5, No 2
Guest Editor’s Introductory Remarks
Elizabeth Bowman (U.S. Army Research Laboratory, USA) Email
This special issue was proposed in cooperation with The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP), Command, Control, Communications and Information (C3I) Systems Group, Command Information Interfaces (CII) Technical Panel 2. A paper introducing this topic was presented at the 14th ICCRTS as paper 038.
Introduction
Military Command and Control (C2) operations are increasingly dynamic and complex both in terms of responding to problems and managing a diverse, multi-disciplinary, multinational force of military and civilian agents. Networked communications architectures increase the speed of information and data transfer to battle command staffs and digital displays allow multi-media visualization of relevant factors that inform time-compressed decision making. This is clearly not purely a military problem; recent examples from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the tsunami in Indonesia, and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans provide illustrations of the complex nature of the C2 response and the need for careful integration of social and technological applications. This special issue of the C2 Journal will explore the integrated socio-technical capability to support intense collaborative decision making.
The term intense collaboration was defined by Kumar, van Fenema and Von Glinow as “the required level and frequency of interactions needed for initiating and sustaining joint action and mutual awareness of the members of a team, the flux of activities in teamwork, the evolving work-object, and the context of the collaborative situation.” (2005, p. 131). This characterization of collaboration has impact for military C2 both in terms of human and technology enablers. We propose this special issue to explore the socio-technical dimensions of intense collaboration for the purpose of investigating how advanced networked technologies can support specific requirements of C2 decision making in diverse groups.
One significant contribution to the consideration of intense collaboration would be the human aspects of this endeavor. Relevant issues for exploration include the tasks associated with intense collaboration, team factors required for successful application of these tasks, and the interaction of team members with technology in use. Team context may include such factors as a team’s experience in working together, the establishment of mutual trust, common purpose of goals, spatial and temporal distribution of team members, and shared or complimentary skill sets. Task requirements should consider the associated difficulty, novelty, complexity, time pressure and dynamism of the problems at hand. The second and related contribution of this special issue is a review of the available technologies that can provide teams with advanced capabilities to manage an intense collaboration environment. This review should include a review of how technologies can support specific team tasks and how they can transform human work flows. Examples of intense collaboration task requirements that can be supported by technology include information collection and fusion, data analysis and management, diagnostic services, and decision support tools to aid situation awareness and decision making. Synchronization tools are another important class of technologies that can aid a diverse group in managing a vast amount of information that is rapidly changing. Finally, consideration should be given to the consolidation of these advanced tools and technologies into a functional capability for a small team that may be composed of individuals who are dispersed in time and space. A prototype Livespaces capability developed by the Australian Defense Science Technology Organization (DSTO) will be one suggested application of the integration of these advanced technologies that can be used by C2 groups. This application includes videoconferencing equipment, networked computers, shared displays, whiteboards, document viewers, and a range of groupware technologies to support communication, information sharing, and decision management.
In addition to considering the contributions that the above mentioned socio-technical applications would make to C2, it would be very advantageous to consider these applications in light of a case study of a recent catastrophe. Dr. Moffat (2008) presented a case study of Hurricane Katrina at the 13th ICCRTS in which he evaluated changing C2 maturity levels. It would be extremely helpful to juxtapose the application of the Livespaces or similar technologies to the Hurricane Katrina experiences documented by Dr. Moffat.
Relevance
This theme is relevant to the international C2 community for several reasons. First, military operations have become multinational and this requires commanders at every echelon to be culturally aware and adept. This means they must be concerned with a wider spectrum of information than ever before and consider second and third order effects of actions. The ability to capture, process, and understand information that is magnitudes greater than previous generations demands technology support in terms of data collection, fusion, course of action analysis, and potential responses to military actions by enemy and host nation neutrals. Second, military operations have become less constrained in terms of enemy combatants and objectives. The lesson from recent humanitarian, combat, and peace-keeping missions is that strategic outcomes can depend on actions by small unit leaders at the lowest levels, hence the rise of ‘Strategic Corporals’ (Krulak, 1999). Commanders must have networked communications technologies in order to share command intent through the levels of the command hierarchy. These advanced communications technologies have the potential to enable information sharing across the C2 spectrum, but displays must be configured in ways that support tailored and scalable information. This is needed to speed decision making of lower echelons in support of higher level mission goals.
The contribution of this special journal issue is to identify specific technologies that can be adapted to C2 processes for deployment in command centers, identification of team behaviors that must be supported by these technologies in intense collaboration environments, and specification of the value-added contributions advanced communications technologies make to human endeavors in C2.
The topic of C2 and Intense Collaboration was the subject of a TTCP TP2 workshop in September 2008. The proposal of a CCRP special issue was agreed to by the TP2 members and also the HUM-TP11 (Human Aspects of Command) members. Dr. Nissen, Dr. Ntuen, and Dr. Moffat have not been contacted for this endeavor at this point. The remaining persons mentioned above have agreed in principle to contribute. However, we would suggest a call for papers to extend the opportunity to publish in this special issue to CCRP members.
References
Krulak, C. C. (1999). The Strategic Corporal: Leadership in the Three Block War. Marines Magazine. Available on the Internet at: http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/usmc/strategic_corporal.htm
Moffat, J. (2008). The response to Hurricane Katrina: A case study of changing C2 maturity levels. Proceedings of the 13th International command and Control Research Technology Symposium, Bellevue, WA, June 17-19.