Requirements for Standards & Commonality with Regard to

Knowledge Based Systems for Coalition Operations

Alice M. Mulvehill Ted KralBBN Technologies BBN Technologiesamm@bbn.com tkral@bbn.com

April 2002

Issues to be Addressed

• How standards have been applied in the development oflarge decision support systems to date.

• The lessons learned.

• The degree and type of standardization required to support Coalition Operations.

Observations: Case Studies

• ARPI (ARPA Rome Planning Initiative)• JTF-ATD (Joint Task Force – Advanced Technology Demonstration)• ACOA (Adaptive Courses of Action)• JWIDs (Joint Warrior Interoperability Demonstration)

ARPI

Emphasis on mixed-initiative planningStandards• Development of a common environment for experimentation

• Technical Integration Experiments (TIE)• Integrated Feasibility Demonstrations (IFD)

• Common domain

• Development of a Common Plan Representation

JTF-ATD

• Focused on the use of a common schemaStandards• Developed a distributed planning environment usingplanning cells called Anchor Desks

- CORBA- web based object servers- common plan representation (common plan object)

• Standards were developed and enforced through the JTF-ATD reference architecture• Extensive usage of training and experimentation via demonstrations and bootcamps (concentrated training)

JTF Reference Architecture

JTF Reference Architecture(Structural View)

ObjectRepository

Applications

ServicesInterface

Infrastructure

UserEnvironments

COE, Object Management (CORBA) ,& Communications

(C++) Object System

(C++) Core Object Schema

JTF C2 Schema

Workplaces (Groups, Contexts)

Map Server

Situation Server

Workflow Manager

Planning Support Functions

Decision Support Functions

Data Server

Model Server Message Server

Viewers Controllers & Blackboards

Comm. Support Functions

Situation Assessment &Planning Applications

Coordination,Communication &

ControlApplications

TaskForceProcessManagementApplications

Task Modeler

Associate Systems

Associate Systems

Monitors & Triggers

Plan Server

Web Server

Comm. Associate

Desktops:

The ACOA Environment

ODYSSEY

POWERPOINT

WORDLEIF

GFTP

WEBPLANNER

JADE

M&S

AGENTS

FACILITATE

Commander, JointTask Force (CJTF)

Special OperationsCommand (SOCOM)

JOINT STAFF

TransportationCommand(TRANSCOM)

Pacific Command(PACOM)

CentralCommand(CENTCOM)

EuropeanCommand(EUCOM)

AtlanticCommand(ACOM)

• The initial focus was to be able to rapidly adapt the COA (Course of Action) to changing situations.

• ACOA is based on a user-centric, iterative development philosophy

The Cooperation Continuum

Do Not AnticipateFrequentCommunication

Low Trust High Trust

AnticipateFrequentCommunication

Cooperation Among The Teams

Memorandum Of Agreementor

Term mapping table

Fully integratedschema orontology

Terminological Evolution

(“OPERATION NAME” mission)(“AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY” geographic-location)(“SUPPORTED CINC” theater)(“FORCE CAPABILITY” function)(“FORCE SERVICE” service)(“FORCE UIC” uic)(“A” army)(“F” air-force)(“M” marines)(“N” navy)

Forces Forces (ULNs)

Task(s) Goal(s)

DerivedAttributes

User DefinedAttributes

Force Module(s)

DeploymentObject

Campaign Object Server Deployment Object

Guidance

Task(s)

Standardization Approach

• architecture • plan representation• planning process• hardware• users• programming language• terminology

Common or Shared

Commonality is more important over timeCommonality is less important over time

Special Needs of Coalition Teams

Cognitive issues associated with culture• training• terminology• operational concepts• planning process

Using Ontologies

• Multinational coalition teams will require the establishment of somestandard operating ontology• Ontology mapping tools will be needed to facilitate entry of new coalition members at varying levels of participation and trust

Forming Coalitions

• JWID as a case study for coalition planning

• What is the role of similarity in team formation?

Joint Warrior Interoperability Experiments (JWID)

JWID 95 Distributed Expeditionary Ops CenterMCTSSA

Camp Pendleton

MEU

Base HQCamp Pendleton

III MEFDJTFAC

CJTF (C7F)

MARFOR(I MEF)

JFACC(3 MAW)

AFFOR(REAR)

ARFOR(REAR)

NRaDPoint Loma

CATF / MEU NEF

III MEF (Fwd)

Disaster Field Office

Disaster Relief Task Force

JSOTF

USCINCPAC& Components

Technology Used in JWID

• WWW• Collaborative planning tools

- whiteboards- shared applications- on-line chat

• Coalition issues- several countries formed a group early- one country was a late joiner

Observations from JWID

The following factors affect interoperability and distributed collaborative planning:

• platform• speed and efficiency of I/O between functionally related systems• the impact of the network type on intercommunication• the impact of environmental issues on interoperability• collaboration between geographically distant systems • varying styles and level of human collaboration techniques• skill level of the operator

Could these lessons learned be used to develop a set of standards to support multi-national coalition formation and development?

Similarity Issues Regarding Team Formation

• Determine how similar a new partner is to existing team members• Similarity can be assessed in terms of:

- culture- technological sophistication- planning style- social practices

• If the new member is very similar -- present with a common ontology or schema.• If the new member is very different -- develop a mappingtable to allow them to communicate with existing members.• Can Similarity Metrics be used to recommend team formation?

Conclusion

• The degree of standard requirements seems directly related to the degree of interoperability and integration desired.

• The degree of partnership in a team influences interoperability and data sharing and can change over time.

• Standards can have as big as impact as you desire.

Recommendation

• Adhere to a minimum essential policy with respect to standards placed on software systems.

• Address the area of standards at the beginning of a program and do not ignore the issue or attempt to retrofit later.

• Evaluate any Coalition impact that could be caused by differences in terminology and process exchange problem.

• Examine issues associated with trust in partnership formation.

• Since we cannot standardize the user set, perhaps we need to create a compensation through the software to allow people to transition from non-common to common environments.