School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering

The purpose of the research is to develop an appropriate socio-technical model of C2, in such a way that it can support the development of C2 software to achieve the greater flexibility and agility of such systems that is required in today's uncertain military context. It should be noted that such contexts do not only include conflict, but also the highly complex environments associated with peacekeeping and disaster response, in which the military C2 and those of civilian organisations must interoperate effectively. The purpose of the research is not to develop a software system, per se, but to create the approach through which socio-technical matters can be incorporated into future C2 software design.

The key academic questions to be addressed in the research focus on the extent to which design of real-time software can incorporate socio-technical information in both design and execution. The research will also provide a fundamental understanding of the limitations that are imposed by software systems on decision making for NEC.

The scope of this research is within the military defence domain, i.e. in military command and control (C2) systems. Therefore, if any generalisations are made, they can only be applied within this (system) boundary. It is beyond the scope of this research to consider socio-technical modelling within civilian command and control (C2) systems.

The research will be approached from a Systems Engineering perspective; it will be necessary to draw together threads from a number of disciplines, in order to develop a framework (or approach) for the inclusion of socio-technical matters in the design of C2 software.

Partners

Publications