Proceedings Article | 20 August 1998
Proc. SPIE. 3393, Digitization of the Battlespace III
KEYWORDS: Defense and security, Internet, Data modeling, Surgery, Control systems, Telecommunications, Navigation systems, Information technology, Information security, Standards development
Canada has been, and remains, committed to participating in coalition operations to promote peace and stability in the post-Cold War world. However, coalition operations challenge traditional command and control concepts, from both the technological and the human perspectives. In the short term, Canada is working closely with traditional NATO and ABCA allies to ensure that the next generation of automated C2 information systems are able to exchange information effectively through structured messages, gateways and standardized data models. Canada is also conducting R&D, and participating in collaborative experiments, to evolve the next generation of systems to permit richer, more dynamic information sharing, along the lines of the Internet and World Wide Web. However, information technology alone will not solve the problems of coalition operations. Research needs to be undertaken to understand task assignment and information flow among coalition partners at the process or operational level. Research is also required at the human level, where differences between coalition partners in culture, personal values, military expectations, religions, and societal values are proving to be less tractable than differences in message formats and communication protocols.
