TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMW 180 DIO-S, DISA/NECC

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 3.5.b.(7) of the solicitation.

OBJECTIVE: Improve the automation of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) activities for warfighters by developing Active Conceptual Modeling (A-CM) technology tools that can capture the dynamics of evolving C4ISR operational scenarios (e.g., Joint Operational Planning, Force Protection, and Maritime Domain Awareness), represent them in a form of database built to contain such dynamic characteristic data, and perform advanced retrospective exploration or analysis on that data to accomplish such things as provide info-forensics, generate trends and their relationships, backtrack data sources to the occurrence of specific events, monitor changes in information and events, extrapolate the future progression of incidents, identify where facts are possibly missing, and support learning from past experiences.

DESCRIPTION: Due to limitations in dynamic modeling and database technology, current DoD C4ISR information systems can only reflect the static characteristics of operational C4ISR domains of interest. Individual static snapshots are captured through an implicit or explicit conceptual model, providing the most recent information only as a single snapshot in time. Therefore the notion of time and spatial relationships between entity/event behaviors and uncertainty is not and cannot be fully modeled. Therefore data changes, schema changes, and historical information and their changes cannot be managed, and the certainty of information cannot be assessed. A wide spectrum of situations resulting from different degrees of importance of relationships from different perspectives cannot be represented. Limitations in modeling and the processing of changes over time have led to inadequate application support for C4ISR in DoD missions such as the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) and Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). New methods of conceptualization, new ways of viewing reality, and new types of databases are required. Historical data, which may reveal changes of events/activities, must be available for retrieval, trend analysis, anomaly detection, and future studies/actions.

PHASE I: Explore the feasibility of extending the mathematical framework for Entity-Relationship (ER)-based active conceptual modeling to represent scenario snapshots that include time, space, uncertainty, and perspective dimensions. Also explore mechanisms for the computation and representation of differences between snapshots for model evolution. Evaluate the feasibility of developing information services derived from active conceptual modeling (as identified in the objective section above).

PHASE II: Further develop the mathematical framework for ER-based A-CM and design and develop prototype tools for information services identified in Phase 1. Identify metrics for evaluating these tools and demonstrate the utility of the tools for operational scenarios in mission areas such as GWOT, Humanitarian Disaster Relief, Noncombatant Evacuation Operation, or Crisis Action Planning and Execution.

PHASE III: Develop applications using real world data from major operational exercises or experimentation events. Include efforts to transition technology to military commands and the commercial sector.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Active conceptual modeling can be used for developing dynamic business process models in Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs). Results from the proposed technology development will yield new information services, which are applicable to military and commercial applications including law enforcement, info-forensics, lessons-learned systems, medical/patient information systems, and automated information archiving systems.

REFERENCES:
1. P. Chen, "Suggested Research Directions for a New Frontier � Active Conceptual Modeling" Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Conceptual Modeling, Tucson, Arizona, November 6-9, 2006, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer-Verlag 4215/2006.

2. Chen, P. P. and Wong, L., "A Proposed Preliminary Framework for Conceptual Modeling of Learning from Surprises," Proc. 2005 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Las Vegas, June 27-30, 2005.

3. P. Chen, B. Thalheim, B., and L. Wong, "Future Directions of Conceptual Modeling," in: Chen, P.P., Akoka, J. , Kangassolo, H., and Thalheim, B. (eds.), Conceptual Modeling: Current Issues and Future Directions, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Lecturing Notes in Computer Sciences, No. 1565, 1998.

4. P. Chen, "The Time-Dimension in the Entity-Relationship Model," in: Information Processing '86, H. -J. Kugler (ed.), North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1986, pp. 387-390.

KEYWORDS: active conceptual modeling, Entity-Relationship Approach, multi-dimension conceptual model, info-forensics, learning, Joint decision support

TPOC: Leah Wong
Phone: (619)553-4127
Fax:
Email: [email protected]
2nd TPOC: Steve Stewart
Phone: (619)553-2546
Fax:
Email: [email protected]

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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