“Net Work”
Network Science Issues of Interest
Dr. David S Alberts
Director, Research OASD(NII)
October 2008
21st Missions
• Complex Endeavors are now the business of DoD
• Complex Effects Space
–
–
–
–
More than just military effects
Interactions in effects space significant
Lack of understanding of cross-domain cause-effects
Inability to predict
• Operating in a Network-Centric Environment
– Many v. Few
– Unfamiliar v. Familiar
• Complex “Self”
–
–
–
–
“Self” is composed of large number of heterogeneous entities
Different objectives, values, constraints
No single entity in charge
Entities have significantly different perceptions
21st Missions
• Complex Endeavors are now the business of DoD
• Complex Effects Space
–
–
–
–
More than just military effects
Interactions in effects space significant
Lack of understanding of cross-domain cause-effects
Inability to predict
Effects
Network
• Operating in a Network-Centric Environment
– Many v. Few
– Unfamiliar v. Familiar
• Complex “Self”
–
–
–
–
“Self” is composed of large number of heterogeneous entities
Different objectives, values, constraints
No single entity in charge
Entities have significantly different perceptions
Networked
Self
Net
Net Work
Task Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Task Cluster
Task Cluster
Entity Cluster
Task Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
21st Missions
• Complex Endeavors are now the business of DoD
• Complex Effects Space
–
–
–
–
More than just military effects
Interactions in effects space significant
Lack of understanding of cross-domain cause-effects
Inability to predict
• Operating in a Network-Centric Environment
– Many v. Few
– Unfamiliar v. Familiar
• Complex “Self”
–
–
–
–
“Self” is composed of large number of heterogeneous entities
Different objectives, values, constraints
No single entity in charge
Entities have significantly different perceptions
“Work”
Effects
Network
“Net”
Networked
Self
“Work”
C2 Approaches
Patterns of Interaction
Among Entities
Edge C2
Collaborative C2
Coordinated C2
De-Conflicted C2
Conflicted C2
Allocation of Decision
Rights to the Collective
Conflicted C2
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
De-conflicted C2
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Coordinated C2
Task Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Collaborative C2
Task Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Edge C2
Task Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Task Cluster
Entity Cluster
Task Cluster
Entity Cluster
Entity Cluster
Network-Centric Value Chain
Cognitive Domain
Information
Domain
Robustly
Networked
Force
Quality of
Information
Information
Sharing
Physical
Domain
Awareness
Shared
Awareness
SelfSynchronization
Collaboration
Social Domain
Mission
Effectiveness
C2 Approaches and Cognitive Demands
• As the network centric nature of C2 increases, the
cognitive demands on individuals and collectives
increases because there is a requirement to:
– share information more extensively and more
frequently
– involve more sources of information
– interact (collaborate) with great numbers and more
diverse people and organizations
– accept external values and constraints
– accept more interdependence
Variables of Interest
Info Sharing &
Collaborative
Behaviors
Allocation of Decision Rights
Patterns of Interaction
Distribution of Information
C2 Maturity
Level
Network
Characteristics
& Performance
Shared
Information
Shared
Awareness
Shared
Understanding
Quality of
Information
Quality of
Awareness
Quality of
Understanding
Task
Performance
Measures of Merit
Task
Difficulty
Quality of
Information
Sources
Individual
& Team
Characteristics
Culture
Legend
Controllable
Partially Controllable
What is ELICIT?
• ELICIT = Experimental Laboratory for Investigating
Collaboration, Information-sharing, and Trust
• U.S. DoD (OASD/NII) Command and Control Research
Program (CCRP) sponsored the design and development of
the ELICIT platform for experimentation focused on
information, cognitive, and social domain phenomena
• Web-based version for person-in-the-loop experiments and
abELICIT, an agent-based version
• Purpose of ELICIT-related Experimentation and Analysis is to
investigate the cognitive and social impacts of C2 approach
and organizational structure (e.g. information sharing, trust,
shared awareness, and task performance)
see www.dodccrp.org for more information