Network Centric Warfare and Complex Humanitarian Emergencies, Meet Napster!
Abstract
Complex humanitarian emergencies have become a permanent feature of the world's security environment, and the U.S. military will continue to be involved in them. At the "pointy end" of any U.S.-led response will be a joint force commander (JFC), and complicating his job will be the requirement that he consult and coordinate with the numerous humanitarian relief organizations (HROs) which he neither commands, nor controls, but which will most certainly populate any such humanitarian emergency. Unfortunately, advocates of one of the military's newest initiatives - network-centric warfare (NCW), which seeks to adopt the business concept of "netcentricity," have yet to articulate a way to bring these HROs under the military's shared information umbrella when doing so would benefit everyone involved. This essay addresses that shortcoming, and provides a solution based upon the technology and business model behind the popular music file sharing utility "Napster." It will show how a Napster-like software application developed, and then freely distributed, by the Department of Defense (DoD), would allow any member of any HRO who possesses a personal computer and access to the Internet, to become a node on the Joint Force Commander's (JFC) shared information grid.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 05, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA389501
Entities
People
- W. S. Gureck
Organizations
- Naval War College