Decision Making Constructs for a Distributed Environment (DCODE)

Modern information technology enables decision makers to access and filter large volumes of information; however, this technology does not necessarily translate into improved decisions. While much technology has been created to deliver information, relatively little has been developed to help decision makers organize, assess, and systematically apply that information to evaluate decision options. While some strides have been taken to address this situation (e.g., MIT’s EWall provides a virtual space for information organization; DCODE allows decision makers to record and share judgments) additional steps are needed to help translate increased information into improved decisions. Specifically, this technology must be (1) extended to rate or recommend decisions between courses of action (COAs); (2) validated empirically; and (3) transitioned to the operational community where it is greatly needed. Aptima, Pacific Science & Engineering, and the Naval Postgraduate School will address this problem by developing a real-time COA assessment tool: the COA Assessor in Real Time (CART). This tool will build on existing, ONR-sponsored technologies – EWall and DCODE – enabling the project team to draft algorithms, user interface concepts, implementation plans, validation plans, and transition partnerships in Phase I that will be the basis for a real-time COA assessment tool developed in Phase II. BENEFITS: Current tools available for decision makers focus more on information knowledge building; very little is available to actually facilitate the difficult decision making process. The COA Assessor in Real Time (CART) will allow decision makers to take advantage of existing technology for collecting, organizing, and making judgments on information; CART will use this information to make real-time recommendations about the best COAs.