Command Authority & Information Flows in Net-Centric Operations

The DOD net-centric transformation will bring extended reach & flexible capabilities through seamless information sharing. This requires breaking down the stovepiped systems that limit commanders from taking advantage of external information and assets. However, stovepiped systems are not all bad: one side-effect of those arbitrary and rigid barriers is to ensure access only to vetted information by authorized participants. As we take down these old barriers, many new information flows and decision procedures become possible. Some of those possibilities are wrong, and should not be permitted. The question for this paper is: Who decides, and what is required to enforce those decisions? We need new procedures and technical features to ensure that the right information gets to the right people, that all information is protected, and that overall information flow policy is preserved for the enterprise. This paper discusses the impact of net-centric operations on technical architectures and some of the options and capabilities that new technologies can provide.