Tool for Modeling and Analysis of Distributed Decision-Making Systems

In response to the recent Navy trend toward organizational structures which decentralize and distribute decision-making in both tactical and non-tactical environments. CHI Systems proposes to develop a general tool for analyzing distributed decision-making and information processing. The research proposed is based on over ten years of efforts in which the Principal Investigator and colleagues at CHI Systems have developed, and demonstrated a methodology for decision analysis called Cognitive Limit Extension Methodology (CLEM) and a related modeling toolset called COGNET (COGnition as a NEtwork of Tasks). The research proposed will further extend these proven techniques to deal with analysis and design of distributed decision-making. The result will be a genera, powerful tool for modeling and analyzing distributed decision-making and information processing, and for constraint-based diagnosis and design of distributed decision-making systems. The primary Phase I goal is to determine the feasibility of extending the existing CLEM methodology and COGNET toolset to meet the need for a flexible, general, and automated tool to model distributed decision-making in complex environments, and to design optimized (distributed) decision systems. This goal is pursued through four specific objectives (each a task of the Phase I effort) plus one option task objective.