Quantifying the Benefits of NEC
Abstract
The UK places Network Enabled Capability as one of its highest priorities for future investment in research, acquisition, people and training. A recent Defence White Paper, Delivering Security in a Changing World, states that the continued transformation of UK forces is dependent on exploiting the benefits of Network Enabled Capability (NEC). The white paper notes that NEC, through enabling "the ability to respond more quickly and precisely, will act as a force multiplier enabling our forces to achieve the desired effect through a smaller number of more capable assets." Analysis and experimentation has a key role in helping UK MOD to identify: a) where will NEC deliver most benefit to defence; b) what can be traded off to pay for it; and c) what changes are required to processes, structures, equipment etc, to deliver the desired transformation. Analytical support is being provided in three main ways: 1) "Knowledge-mining" previous work on quantifying the value of information. NEC as a coherent concept is new, but many of its elements have been under analysis for the last few years. These are being brought together to provide a compendium of evidence. 2) Influencing ongoing studies and experiments to include NEC options in their analysis; e.g. broadening thinking to include people and other non-equipment options. 3) Auditing key combat and campaign models to establish what aspects of NEC they can model and which aspects need functional improvements in order to be represented. The audit also identifies where data exist and where there are gaps. This activity helps determine the priorities for future model development and for experiments to generate data. This paper provides examples of the types of benefits that are being identified through knowledge-mining and the methods that have been used in deriving them. It also provides an overview of the model and data audit process that is being undertaken.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA472042
Entities
People
- Georgia Court
- Lynda C. Sharp
Organizations
- Defence Science and Technology Laboratory