Military Review English Edition May-June 2014 | Page 47
NETWORK-CENTRIC WARFARE
commander was about 3 hours, versus 24 hours for
the non-networked commander. The accurate identification of friendly, neutral, and enemy forces was
approximately 60 percent better with networking.
The networked formation had a 1:1 (friendly:enemy)
casualty ratio, while the non-networked force suffered a 10:1 casualty ratio.14
Information system theory and Army mission
command doctrine describe how an IS does not
operate independently of people.15 An IS consists of
equipment that collects, processes, stores, displays,
and disseminates information.16 People use policies,
procedures, and communications as they manage
and process data to enhance decision making with
automation. Network-centric warfare theory frames
decision making in terms of four domains of conflict:
physical, information, cognitive, and social.17
The DIKW hierarchy is a knowledge management structure that helps people make data become
meaningful for decision making. The elements of the
DIKW hierarchy are—
●● Data: raw, frequently unstructured items apart
from context or interpretation.18 Data are the first link
between an IS and the DIKW hierarchy. People use
an IS to interact with the data.
●● Information: data that have been transformed
to have meaning for human beings by being organized with specific relationships between the data.19
Information adds value to a person’s understanding
about something.20 People use an IS to perform this
transformation.
●● Knowledge: information that is transformed
so it is has patterns and repeatable processes.21
Information
System
Data
Coup
d’œil
It is independently useful for decision making.
People use an IS to perform this transformation.
●● Wisdom: the application of intuition to accumulated knowledge applied in a visionary or anticipatory manner.22 People do not use an IS to create
wisdom. Rather, they review knowledge discerned
through data-information-knowledge transformations and apply personal intuition to create wisdom.
A 19th-century seminal work on military theory,
On War, provides the elements that military commanders can use to bind an IS, people, and the DIKW
hierarchy together for network-centric operations.
The elements are coup d’œil and determination.
Coup d’œil is the ability of a military commander to
quickly make sense of battlefield activity and come
to a tactically sound conclusion.23 Being determined,
or resolu te, is the courage to accept responsibility
and act once a decision is made.24 Clausewitz’s
concept for coup d’œil fits well with the framework
for creating wisdom; it provides the context for
a military-specific type of intuition. In addition,
Clausewitz’s notion that determination balances
coup d’œil by providing the courage to act captures
the culminating act of decision making supported
by an IS. Coup d’œil and determination together
link the DIKW hierarchy to competent, informed
tactical decisions in battle and the leader’s will to
act. The figure illustrates the relationship between
a commander, coup d’œil, and an IS in the DIKW
hierarchy. The transformations from data to information and from information to knowledge occur
with use of the IS. The transformation from knowledge to wisdom only occurs when a commander
Commander
Determination
Act
Relationship Between a Commander, Coup d’œil, and an Information System
MILITARY REVIEW
May-June 2014
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