Hasta La Ideas

In Part 2, we discussed the challenges the international disaster response community faces. In this post, we’ll look at how the US Military creates collaborative information systems between millions of soldiers.

Building the Hive Mind: The United States Military

The Military in the Information Age

Coordinating nearly 1.5 million troops in five military branches across every continent is an extremely complex undertaking. From flying unmanned aerial vehicles to directing clandestine operations, not to mention processing enormous amounts of situational data, information technology allows the United States Armed Forces to have complete command and control from half a world away. Although extremely bureaucratic in nature, the military is at the forefront of technology for elaborate logistical functionality.

Network-Centric Warfare

Developed in the late 1990’s by the Department of Defense, the theory of network-centric warfare seeks to increase “combat power by networking sensors, decision makers, and shooters to achieve shared awareness, increased speed of command… and a degree of self-synchronization.” The theory grew out of the need for advanced systems of military coordination in a world increasingly commanded by information technology, especially that of large business operations.

The battlefield is viewed as a rapidly evolving ecosystem where information is the key to dominance. Information awareness between the various units involved in an operation is achieved through a “collaborative network of networks, populated and refreshed with quality intelligence.” The self-synchronization aspect of network-centric warfare seeks to allow “low-level forces to operate nearly autonomously” through this information awareness.

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