Suchergebnisse

In emergency management and in military operations, command and control comprises the collection of functions, systems and staff personnel that one or several executives draw on to arrive at decisions and seeing that these decisions are carried out. The large amount of available information coupled with modern computers and computer networks brings along the potential for making well-informed and quick decisions. Hence, decision-making is a central aspect in command and control, emphasizing an obvious need for development of adequate decision-supporting tools to be used in command and control centers. However, command and control takes place in a versatile environment, including both humans and artifacts, making the design of useful computer tools both challenging and multi-faceted. This thesis deals with preparatory action in command and control settings with a focus on the strategic properties of a situation, i.e., to aid commanders in their operational planning activities with the utmost goal of ensuring that strategic interaction occurs under the most favorable circumstances possible. The thesis highlights and investigates the common features of interaction by approaching them broadly using a gaming perspective, taking into account various forms of strategic interaction in command and control. This governing idea, the command and control gaming perspective, is considered an overall contribution of the thesis. Taking the gaming perspective, it turns out that the area ought to be approached from several research directions. In particular, the persistent gap between theory and applications can be bridged by approaching the command and control gaming perspective using both an applied and a theoretical research direction. On the one hand, the area of game theory in conjunction with research findings stemming from artificial intelligence need to be modified to be of use in applied command and control settings. On the other hand, existing games and simulations need to be adapted further to take theoretical game ...

Computer-based games and simulations provide the means for practicing essential elements of combat which in a realistic exercise setting would require substantial resources in terms of personnel, time, and investments. Another important aspect of such games and simulations is the possibility to make use of gameplay log data for conducting debriefings, etc. This paper presents a study where relatively simple computer simulations were developed to improve poorly supported training aspects, and support debriefing and measuring of training outcome. A previous feasibility study showed a lack of systematical implementation of tactical-level military training simulation support. In the feasibility study, three Swedish military units were chosen to illuminate a number of varying and currently undeveloped tactical-level training domains where games and simulations can make a difference, to evaluate the potential training benefits in terms of learning and organizational practices. The feasibility study showed and exemplified that there exist many tactical-level military training domains that are likely to benefit from using relatively simple computer simulations, and also that the same system can be a support for both the training audience and the exercise management. Based on the feasibility study, this paper presents a proof of concept agent based simulation system that has been implemented and validated within the scope of a military command post exercise. Through using a generic agent based simulation engine along with commonly accepted communication protocols, the potential to complement and provide an additional edge to today's procedures can be achieved using comparatively small efforts. The paper is concluded by presenting a generic approach to easily implement agent based simulation support at undeveloped tactical domains, and best practices for doing so. ; QC 20161219

With the availability of an abundance of data through the Internet, the premises to solve some intelligence analysis tasks have changed for the better. The study presented herein sets out to examine whether and how a data-driven approach can contribute to solve intelligence tasks. During a full day observational study, an ordinary military intelligence unit was divided into two uniform teams. Each team was independently asked to solve the same realistic intelligence analysis task. Both teams were allowed to use their ordinary set of tools, but in addition one team was also given access to a novel text analysis prototype tool specifically designed to support data-driven intelligence analysis of social media data. The results, obtained from the case study with a high ecological validity, suggest that the prototype tool provided valuable insights by bringing forth information from a more diverse set of sources, specifically from private citizens that would not have been easily discovered otherwise. Also, regardless of its objective contribution, the capabilities and the usage of the tool were embraced and subjectively perceived as useful by all involved analysts.

Social media has become an integrated part of human communication, both as a means to establish and maintain social relationships, and as a means of sharing and co‐creating information. Social media comes with an array of possibilities for individuals as well as organizations, corporations, and authorities. Within the field of crisis communication, social media possibilities such as online sharing and social networking have had an impact on the way crisis information is disseminated and updated. This paper addresses the issues related to using social media for communicating crisis information and broadcasting alert messages to the general population, discusses the role of social media in future pan‐European crisis alerting, and presents a prototype system demonstrating the possibilities. An extensive systematic literature review was carried out to identify factors that affect the use of social media for alerting and warning. These factors were mirrored in experiences, collected through interviews, obtained by emergency management organizations in three European countries (Sweden, Czech Republic, and Spain). The factors finally form the basis for suggestions and recommendations regarding the design of technological tools for both communication and information collection to serve as an integral part of a future pan‐European crisis alerting system.

Information Assurance and computer security are serious worldwide concerns of governments, industry, and academia. Computer security is one of the three new focal areas of the ACM/IEEE's Computer Science Curriculum update in 2008. This ACM/IEEE report describes, as the first of its three recent trends, "the emergence of security as a major area of concern." The importance of Information Assurance and Information Assurance education is not limited to the United States. Other nations, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and other members from NATO countries and the EU, have inquired as to how they may be able to establish Information Assurance education programs in their own country.The goal of this document is to explore the space of various existing Information Assurance educational standards and guidelines, and how they may serve as a basis for helping to define the field of Information Assurance. It was necessary for this working group to study what has been done for other areas of computing. For example, computer science (CS 2008 and associate-degree CS 2009), information technology (IT 2008), and software engineering (SE 2004), all have available curricular guidelines.In its exploration of existing government, industry, and academic Information Assurance guidelines and standards, as well as in its discovery of what guidance is being provided for other areas of computing, the working group has developed this paper as a foundation, or a starting point, for creating an appropriate set of guidelines for Information Assurance education. In researching the space of existing guidelines and standards, several challenges and opportunities to Information Assurance education were discovered. These are briefly described and discussed, and some next steps suggested.

Information Assurance and computer security are serious worldwide concerns of governments, industry, and academia. Computer security is one of the three new focal areas of the ACM/IEEE's Computer Science Curriculum update in 2008. This ACM/IEEE report describes, as the first of its three recent trends, "the emergence of security as a major area of concern." The importance of Information Assurance and Information Assurance education is not limited to the United States. Other nations, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and other members from NATO countries and the EU, have inquired as to how they may be able to establish Information Assurance education programs in their own country. The goal of this document is to explore the space of various existing Information Assurance educational standards and guidelines, and how they may serve as a basis for helping to define the field of Information Assurance. It was necessary for this working group to study what has been done for other areas of computing. For example, computer science (CS 2008 and associate-degree CS 2009), information technology (IT 2008), and software engineering (SE 2004), all have available curricular guidelines. In its exploration of existing government, industry, and academic Information Assurance guidelines and standards, as well as in its discovery of what guidance is being provided for other areas of computing, the working group has developed this paper as a foundation, or a starting point, for creating an appropriate set of guidelines for Information Assurance education. In researching the space of existing guidelines and standards, several challenges and opportunities to Information Assurance education were discovered. These are briefly described and discussed, and some next steps suggested.