Information Management Staff Toolkit

Successful management of information is crucial to effective operation of the JBI. Unlike traditional management applications that focus on physical aspects of a network, the information management staff toolkit must manage information for the functional end user. This requires insight into which information is required for a particular function and how that information is collected and transformed as needed by the end user. To ensure critical information is delivered to decision makers in a timely manner, policies controlling delivery of and access to information must be defined and enforced. To assist in administering the JBI, we envision user configurable visual representations of management information that can be directly manipulated by information staff. Effective visualization will enable high-level overviews of system activity along with detailed views of specific information paths. Staff members can use these visual representations to monitor and reconfigure information delivery policies and transformation paths. To be effective, these visual representations must accurately depict current status of frequently changing information. This requires that appropriate information be collected in real-time to update the visual presentations. We plan to use collaborative agents that monitor information paths and synthesize relevant information from JBI infrastructure applications.