Priority Intelligence Requirement Answering and Commercial Question-Answering: Identifying the Gaps

Abstract : Doctrinally, Priority Intelligence Requirements (PIRs) are information that the commander needs to know in order to make a decision or achieve a desired effect. Networked warfare provides the intelligence officer with access to multitudes of reports and sensor outputs. What technology can the intelligence officer use to find answers to PIRs in this sea of information? Recent developments in enterprise search technology have accelerated. To what extent can commercial search technologies assist with the task of PIR answering? In this paper, we outline doctrinal approaches to PIRs and PIR answering and explore how they have been adapted to contemporary warfare. We then explore five types of question-answering technologies: structured data technologies; unstructured textbased technologies; semistructured or "tagged text'-based logic or "semantic web" technologies; and social question-answering technologies. We identify gaps in the PIR answering process that cannot be filled by contemporary Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions.