Holistic, Dynamic Management of Operational Signatures

A proposed Phase II program of research outlines the development of an analytical tool and accompanying experimentation testbed for constructing, managing, and exploiting operational signatures in a holistic and dynamic manner. This innovative approach to knowledge creation offers a more powerful method of coping with the increased ontological complexity of the modern battlespace. While incorporating the beneficial features of traditional analytical paradigms—e.g., doctrinal templates, case-based reasoning, Bayesian inference, and semantic web technologies—the proposed technical approach provides for real-time construction of meaning and context that enables operational signatures to both (1) adapt to changes in the overall operational situation and (2) reflect the unique perspectives of different stakeholders and decision makers. By constructing situation understanding in a holistic and dynamic manner, the methodology avoids two major pitfalls associated with traditional atomistic methods –namely, (1) the need to augment static description languages with various “context specification” devices and (2) the ever-increasing size of ontologies and predicate logic rule sets. The proposed technology development responds to the need of the Joint commander for improved tools and methods for visualizing and assessing effects-based operations in a complex political, military, economic, social, information, and infrastructure (PMESII) battlespace.