Information and Knowledge Centric Warfare: The Next Steps in the Evolution of Warfare

Abstract

Over the past 20-years, the military services have evolved from platform-centric to network centric warfare. As they continue to progress in the Information Age, network-centric warfare is envisioned to evolve into information-centric warfare (some evidence suggests this evolution has already taken place.) This paper is meant to be thought provoking, in as much as it proposes the next step in warfare: transitioning from network-centric/information-centric to knowledge-centric warfare. Network-centric warfare is built around human and organizational behavior a new way of thinking in terms of linkages. Its end result is combat power that can be generated from the effective linking or networking of the warfighting enterprise. Its premise is the ability to push "information to the edge." Once this premise becomes institutionalized, warfare will utilize the proven attributes of network-centric/information centric warfare to go to the next, logical, evolutionary step in the conduct of warfare namely pushing knowledge to the edge . This next step is a transformation of network/information- centric-warfare's "Power to the Edge" to knowledge-centric warfare's Power of the Edge . This paper discusses the basic tenants of network/information-centric warfare and how its attributes form the basis for knowledge-centric warfare. Key technologies for the transition from network/information centric to knowledge centric are discussed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA465942

Entities

People

  • Igor G. Plonisch
  • Paul W. Phister Jr.

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Cognitive Systems Engineering
  • Command And Control
  • Data Mining
  • Information Processing
  • Information Systems
  • International Organizations
  • Joint Military Activities
  • Machine Learning
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • Network Centric Warfare
  • Psychology
  • Reasoning
  • Space Systems
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Systems Analysis and Design