Building an Ontology for Command & Control
Abstract
The definition of Command & Control is still being debated within the Department of Defense and a consensus has yet to emerge. As historically shown, striving for a common language, or a common lexicon in any domain tends to be difficult at best. The authors find that the problem may be that we are wrestling with various Command & Control definitions rather than discussing the environments in which Command & Control exists. So, rather than trying to define the term Command & Control, the authors believe we must focus on the environments in which Command & Control functions exist. Once the environments are defined and understood, then the boundaries and limitations of Command & Control also come into focus. These borders are defined by the domain of discourse, (in this case, the concepts, classes, or Ontology of Command & Control ). We need to build such a construct. The authors contend that the domain of Command & Control does not require a hard and fast definition, per se, but is in need of an ontology to identify the content and boundaries. The role of ontology is to provide a better structuring of what Command & Control is or is not, and to help index and retrieve domain-related information. This paper proposes to: describe and promote the understanding of how ontology relates to Command & Control and possibly begin to establish a basis from which an interoperable Command & Control ontology can be developed. Finally, and probably more importantly at this stage, this paper should open the dialogue for further discussion on ontological constructs and their applicability to the Command & Control domain.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 17, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA464304
Entities
People
- Douglas E. Campbell
- Raymond J. Curts