Disrupting Improvised Explosive Device Terror Campaigns: Basic Research Opportunities

Abstract

In 2005, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) commissioned a study by the National Research Council (NRC) to "examine the current state of knowledge and practice in the prevention, detection, and mitigation of the effects of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and make recommendations for avenues of basic research." In 2007, the NRC issued the report "Countering the Threat of Improvised Explosive Devices: Basic Research Opportunities," which identified compelling directions in basic research. Many of the research subjects discussed in the 2007 report were worthy of much more detailed treatment than was possible in a report of such broad scope. Accordingly, the study committee organized and executed two workshops, which are summarized here. The first workshop, held in February 2008 in Irvine, CA, was titled "Disrupting IED Terror Campaigns: Finding the Weak Links." It focused on the human dimension of IED terror campaigns and on identifying basic research that could lead to improved approaches to disrupting IED terrorist organizations. Members at all levels of the organization -- from leader, financier, and bomb-maker through low-level laborers -- can be involved in IED activities, and understanding their roles and motivations is important in addressing the threat posed by IEDs. The workshop also considered research and perspectives on the interactions of the threat organization with the general population. The second workshop, held in March 2008 in Washington, DC, was titled "Disrupting IED Terror Campaigns: Predicting IED Activities." Its focus was on identifying basic research that could lead to improved ability to predict IED-related activities on the basis of the collection and interpretation of data from a variety of sources: visual, electronic, material, transaction, narrative. It is believed that monitoring the movement of people and resources can assist in the prediction of IED-related activities and reveal an organization's underlying structure.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA520891

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Counter IED
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Asymmetric Warfare
  • Bayesian Networks
  • Biometric Security
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Mining
  • Detectors
  • Game Theory
  • Information Processing
  • Information Science
  • Information Systems
  • Network Science
  • Organizational Structure
  • Psychology
  • Recreation
  • Sensor Networks
  • Societies
  • Wireless Sensor Networks

Readers

  • Academic Conference Management
  • Neurotrauma and Rehabilitation Medicine.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics