afcea technet freedom in information: connecting the warfighter to the net – the final mile!
TRANSCRIPT
AFCEA TechNet
Freedom in Information:
Connecting the warfighter to the Net – the final mile!
Data Sunt, Inepte! Copyright 2006MAST 2006
THE INFORMATION GRID
Common Information Infrastructure
C2 Centres/Nodes
IntegratedSurveillance,Target and Recce Assets
Broadcast/comms services
PJHQJFHQ
JFHQ Afloat Tactical HQs
UK based and theatresupport - logistics, intelligence etc
Precision Forces and Strike Assets
Network Enabled Capability
•Global coverage•Large bandwidth•Continuous connectivity•Ability to send terabytes of dataHow do we ensure understanding
at the foxhole?
The “Last Mile”• Connectivity between Net and the war-
fighter at the front line (or the submarine at sea) can be extremely limited and may well vary with operational tempo.
• How can we ensure that the front-line has:– Key operational information– Is not overwhelmed by unnecessary
data?• Need to prioritise information• Strip out unnecessary data framework (eg
Microsoft!)
What the War Fighter Needs!
• Operationally relevant information – prioritise.• In a readily digestible – searchable form• Reduction in “clutter” – filter out unnecessary
data• Highly effective use of bandwidth to reduce
time spent sending/receiving• Information flow in syc. with war fighter’s OODA
loop• Confidence that he can “Pull” additional data if
operational circumstances demand
“Humans we know have a limited capacity for handling information and too much complexity simply leads to stress, if not downright overload.”
Dr Janet Efstathiou,
Oxford University.
Data Sunt, Inepte! Copyright 2006MAST 2006
Data Sunt, Inepte! Copyright 2006MAST 2006
Technology & the Warfighter
Telegraph Telephone Computer VTC Web CognitiveTelegraph Telephone Computer VTC Web Cognitive Tools ToolsTools Tools
Time Line 1865 1914 1945 1991 1999 2007
Soldiers to Cover 102 Km
Data Transfer
Rate
Civil War WWI WWII Gulf War Kosovo Iraq
38,830 4,040 300 24 ?
20 BPS 32 BPS 71 BPS ? GPS/TPS256 KBPS
1.544 MBPS
3
Tech-nology
Openkast XML Agenda
• Search and retrieve information efficiently
• Integrate information from heterogeneous sources• Add value and define new contexts
• Provide Access to legacy data• Allow effective prioritisation of key data• Effective management of data formats
Openkast believes that organisations need a database technology that improves agility, flexiblility and is performant.
XML – The Benefits
• XML is a cross platform international standard
• XML allows different systems to share data
• XML is extensible, allowing custom tags to define and validate information
• Information formatting using XSLT
Openkast – Answers!
Openkast - Answers
215gbytes XML1.2Tbytes RDBMs88gbytes Openkast
Sub 1 sec search& retrieval
Simple SOAP lnterface
Records held inflat files, no fragmentation
CommonTaxonomies
Typical 300 – 500records per sec
The Command and Control Challenge!
The Solution
US DoD - freedom of manoeuvrability
In the USA, the declared the vision for information sharing for the DoD is:
“Deliver the power of information to ensure mission success through an agile enterprise with freedom of manoeuverability across
the information environment.”
The War Fighter and Openkast
• Openkast allows “dial-up” speeds to be effectively “broadband”
• Delivers the NEC to the War Fighter• Allows effective prioritisation of information• Gives full “Push-Pull” capability• Full storage of all data for later retrieval or
audit analysis.• Less than 10% of similar RDBMS systems.
Openkast
Freedom in Information