Agent-based Socio-Cultural Information and Intelligence (ASCII) Workbench

With the sharp rise in asymmetric warfare over the last decade, our military"s focus has shifted from a standard, kinetic military approach to much more complex missions, stressing counter-insurgency (COIN) and Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction (SSTR) operations. Commanders require a clear understanding of the complex socio-cultural landscape and dynamics of the operating environment to support strategy development, planning, and execution of non-kinetic courses of action to achieve mission goals. To support this understanding, the full range of Diplomatic, Information, Military, and Economic (DIME) actions and Political, Military, Economic, Social, Information, and Infrastructure (PMESII) effects must be accounted for throughout the command and control (C2) data-to-decision making process. Recent advancements in the fields of Human, Social, Culture, Behavior (HSCB) modeling, artificial intelligence, and human-system interaction have created promising and significant opportunities for incorporating intelligent agents, socio-cultural models, and intuitive human-computer interfaces into a collaborative workbench for information management. To support this vision, Aptima proposes to develop the Agent-based Socio-Cultural Information and Intelligence (ASCII) Workbench. ASCII is a collaborative workspace that utilizes contextually-aware intelligent agents to help analysts find, explore, prioritize, and visualize information and relationships in the PMESII domain.