Value of Information Tool to Support Military Data Acquisition

This effort will determine the feasibility of a concept for a methodology and Value of Information (VoI) analysis framework and software toolset that provide an innovative capability to prioritize data acquisition efforts in the face of uncertain environmental and situational conditions.The main anticipated result of this Phase I research effort is the development of an innovative methodology and software that identifies the sources of uncertainty that have the greatest impact on mission success and finds the input uncertainty reductions that provide the most output uncertainty reduction for the least cost. The Phase I research will develop the basic methodology and mathematical formulation that will provide a general and configurable value of information (VoI) analysis framework that can be applied to many operational and management scenarios with the greatest ease-of-implementation.The new methodology and mathematical formulation will have been implemented in concept software that can be used to demonstrate the feasibility and value of the new capability, and provides the data input and results structure to develop prototype software in Phase II.A case study that involves illustration of data acquisition strategies that provide the most cost-effective benefit to mission objectives will be conducted.