Net-Centric Operations (NCO) Overview Mark Bowler Ken Cureton Kenneth.L.Cureton@boeing.com Mark.K.Bowler@boeing.com 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

Agenda NCO: WHAT NCO: WHY What is Net-Centric Operations? What are basic NCO concepts? NCO: WHY What are the benefits? What are the challenges of achieving NCO? Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium Who, what, where, and why 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What is Net-Centric Operations? … an Information Age Transformation 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What is Net-Centric Operations? Typical Tactical Expectation of NCO Communications Network: Always Connected Sensors: See First Situational Awareness: Understand First Integrated Command & Control: Act First Force Projection: Finish Decisively Is NCO Just for Tactical Operations? Useful for Command & Control Useful for Logistics Useful for Training Useful for Administrative Activities Useful in our Personal Lives 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

How is NCO different than today's Ops? Today’s Challenges Include: Point-to-point (non-networked) communications “Stovepiped” systems Joint & Coalition operations Control of data Security concerns Analysis/Processing requirements “Turf” concerns Limited Budgets: Having to “Do More with Less” Schedules: Too short to implement; Too long to obtain Cultural Resistance: “That’s Not How We Do Things” Fear Challenge to NCO: Can we REALLY overcome these obstacles? 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What are Basic NCO Concepts? Net-Ready Systems Systems can be connected to a common Communications Network to form a System-of-Systems Individual Systems may be able to operate on their own Systems may have their own internal networks Overall Communications Network is often a Network-of-Networks System elements are referred to as “Nodes” Nodes are “Plug-and-Play” (not –Pay or –Pray) Common mode of communications (for data, may also be for voice, video, etc.) Common mode of information exchange Note: common modes not necessarily the primary modes used in the node’s mission! 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What are Basic NCO Concepts? Power To The Edge End Users rapidly and efficiently obtain data and use capabilities to better perform their jobs Hierarchical structure “flattened” as much as feasible Eliminate intermediate “choke-points” Goal: empower people to better operate within their RAA (Role – Accountability – Authority) Not intended to violate hierarchy of command!!! Not just the warfighter in the field at “the pointy end of the spear”– includes: Maintenance personnel Supply personnel Administrative personnel 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What are Basic NCO Concepts? Communities of Interest (COI) Users rapidly and efficiently collaborate to achieve a common goal Many kinds of common goals, ranging from: Perform a Mission, to “Birds of a Feather” flocking together Collaboration: Typically enabled via the network Participants may be mostly independent, may be interdependent, may be hierarchical May be tightly-coupled (highly dependent on each other) or loosely-coupled (mostly autonomous) May be pre-planned or may be ad hoc with whatever/whoever is available 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What are Basic NCO Concepts? Information Superiority “Better” information than the opposing force Better access to critical data More timely access to critical data Faster ability to understand full meaning of that data Ability to seamlessly share that data and its importance Common Operating Picture (COP) All users drawing from common data, information, and knowledge to do their job Shared understanding, usually near real-time Synchronized to minimize ambiguity Defined Ontology to minimize differing interpretation Not necessarily meaning that all users can access everything! Not necessarily just tactical users 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What are Basic NCO Concepts? Interoperability NCO-Enabled Systems must be: Able to Find and Join the Network Requires compatible communications capability Able to Register Identity on the Network Able to use network to Discover who can provide compatible data and services Able to Exchange Data with other compatible systems Usually via a packet-switching network Usually via XML-formatted messages May need Semantic translation or bridging NCO-Enabled Systems don’t have to have: Identical communications capability Direct compatibility with all other systems May use Gateways 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What are the Benefits of NCO? TIME and AGILITY Rapid access to crucial information Rapid ability to understand that information and make appropriate decisions Rapid ability to act on those decisions Rapid ability to iterate the above as necessary Imagine outcome of the following events, had all data at hand been comprehended in time: Pearl Harbor D-Day 9-11-2001 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What are Other Benefits of NCO? LOCATION INDEPENDENCE Nodes able to communicate to other nodes by name (or logical identity) And not know the physical location (or address) of the other node(s) COLLABORATION Allows multiple participants: may be Independent, Interdependent, or Hierarchical Tightly-coupled or Loosely-coupled Planned or Ad hoc People/Systems working together such that their combined power is greater than the sum of their individual capabilities 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What Are Risks of NOT achieving NCO? Asymmetric Warfare: “Threats outside the range of conventional warfare & difficult to respond to in kind” Opponents already have common communications (e.g. cell phones) Opponents already have common information infrastructure that enables collaboration (e.g. the Internet) Opponent infrastructure is not robust in the Military sense… but they’re NCO-enabled NOW (and you probably aren’t fully NCO for many years) But note experience in Afghanistan and Iraq “He Who Fails To Set The Standards First Is Doomed To Eventually Follow Standards Set By Others” Standards that may not be your optimal choice 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

The Goal? The Global Information Grid (GIG) 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

Additional Materials 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What is Net-Centric Operations? “Net-Centric” rather than “Network-Centric” Not just Network Technology (although understanding of network infrastructure is very important) Key importance: enhanced ability to operate and use a system that has been enabled by network technology It’s All About Being More Effective Networked users improves information sharing and collaborative services Shared information enhances situational awareness Enhanced situational awareness and collaborative services via the network enables agility of response Increased mission effectiveness 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What is Net-Centric Operations? Is NCO Just Another Buzzword? Net-Centric Operations (NCO) is the ability to: Rapidly collect and share appropriate data in a collaborative environment Recognize which data is significant to you Understand the meaning of such data Efficiently make better-informed decisions by yourself or in a collaborative environment Rapidly act (or not act) on decisions– made by you or made by others Rapidly get feedback and repeat the above Understand what services are available to you Efficiently use those services (or capabilities) Efficiently provide services for others in a manner that is consistent with your mission Trust and depend on availability and security of data & services 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What are Basic NCO Concepts? Fundamental Approach in the Design and Use of Systems: To operate as Net-Ready Systems Ability to provide Power to the Edge Ability to support applicable Communities Of Interest Leverage Information Superiority Draw from a Common Operating Picture Typical Characteristic Primary focus is on usability rather than just on performance Users may be people and/or other systems Services are typically flexible enough to be used in ways not anticipated by the original architects and designers 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

How is NCO different than today's Ops? May not be able to communicate with others May have incompatible systems– unable to work with others May not have timely access to all data that you need May be overwhelmed by sheer volume of data May not have access to people/resources to interpret that data May not have a common operating picture of situation May not know what capabilities are (or are not!) available May not be able to effectively make or receive decisions May not be able to quickly see effect of action/inaction Goal of NCO is to Solve These Kinds of Problems 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What are Challenges of Achieving NCO? Risks of achieving NCO Cultural resistance to change “Star Trek Phasers Make For Terrible Hammers” NIH: “Not Invented Here” “That’s Not How We Do Things” “We Can’t Tolerate The Disruption of Transition” “We Can’t Allow Ourselves To Look Bad” Waiting for someone else to find all the pitfalls: “It’s The Second Mouse That Gets The Cheese” Personal resistance to change WIIFM: “What’s In It For Me” “You’re Doing Away With My Job” Resistance to perceived revolutionary change Often costs much more than you can afford in terms of budget, schedule, and disruption in performance 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What are Challenges of Achieving NCO? Risks of achieving NCO (continued) Information Assurance: Assured Availability Critical capabilities and data must be available when needed Will the networked environment be reliable enough? Information Assurance: Integrity How to know that the data is timely and accurate? How to know that nothing’s missing… or is something missing that may mislead? Information Assurance: Security How to keep unauthorized people from accessing or modifying data and services? How to prevent denial of service? Virus/Worms? How to keep proper audit trails for non-repudiation? How to certify a networked system-of-systems? 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What are Challenges of Achieving NCO? Risks of achieving NCO (continued) Can’t Just Start Over with NCO Systems Too many existing systems are not NCO-enabled Not enough budget to replace everything at once Even IF enough budget— takes a long time! (Training, Documentation, Spares, etc.) Fundamental conclusion: for the foreseeable future, NCO-enabled systems will have to coexist with Legacy Systems Enduring Platforms! 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What are Challenges of Achieving NCO? Risks of achieving NCO (continued) NCO System-of-Systems Typically Have “Brittle” Modes Highest Performance modes may not be best! Often not robust: small change in something like timing may lead to total mission failure “Best” Performance modes may be hard to determine Need to explore performance envelope to find operating regimes that are relatively insensitive to parameter variations (e.g. timing) But NCO System-of-Systems performance typically not deterministic— too complex Usually requires extensive System-of-Systems Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis (and maybe experience & luck) 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT

What are Challenges of Achieving NCO? Risks of achieving NCO (continued) What is a Pound of NCO Worth? Usually no single, large benefit that is easily quantifiable Large benefits usually result from an aggregation of little factors, any one of which doesn’t seem all that beneficial Some of those factors may be intangible or difficult to quantify (e.g. “morale”) Net result: difficult to determine Measures of Effectiveness (MOE’s) that measure effectivity of NCO May have to evaluate System MOE’s with NCO vs. System MOE’s without NCO (apples to oranges?) Net result: hard to sell NCO to budget-setters 6/28/2005 What-Is-NCO.PPT