Capturing the value of information in complex military environments: A fuzzy-based approach

Abstract

Today's military operations require information from an unprecedented number of sources resulting in an overwhelming volume of collected data. A primary challenge for military commanders and their staff is separating the important information from the routine. Currently, the Value of Information (VOI) assigned a piece of information is a multiple step process requiring intelligence collectors and analysts to judge its value within a host of differing operational situations. The cognitive processes behind these conclusions resist codification with exact precision suggesting that new methodologies are required to deal with this significant issue. This paper presents an approach for calculating the VOI in complex military environments using a fuzzy associative memory model as an effective framework for contextually tuning the VOI based on the information's content, source reliability and latency.