US and Coalition Forces Data (Semantic) Interoperability Study

Abstract : This research report documents the results of a study conducted in 2009 for the Army CIO/G-6 to assess the extent of data (or semantic) interoperability among certain US and coalition command and control (C2) information systems. The study focused on significant activity reports (SIGACTs) concerning counterinsurgency (COIN) and counter-improvised explosive device (CIED) operations. An objective definition for semantic interoperability and a quantitative metric to measure it, based on shared or common reporting terminology, were developed and applied to four US and one coalition information systems. A major finding of the study was that today there is a low level of semantic interoperability between key US and coalition C2 information systems.