An Analysis Capability for System of Systems Research

Abstract

This paper proposes an analysis capability for systems of systems research in military settings. A new approach is needed due to the increasingly complex socio-technical nature of Command and Control (C2). This research seeks to advance the Army analysis process by developing a capability to examine cognitive, social and technical aspects of information sharing and consequential decision making requirement for C2. We first review the definition of system of systems. Next, we establish the agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) paradigm as a useful method for analysis because of its facility for exploring large and complex problem spaces. This is followed by some structural issues addressed by ABMS with an emphasis on the challenge of representing human behavior in psychologically plausible ways. We then present one instantiation of ABMS that incorporates a representation of human decision making and the utility of information in a small vignette. We consider the suitability of this ABMS for system of system analyses with respect to how the decision making processes represent human decision making behavior. Finally, we discuss an ongoing approach to improve human behavior representations in the agents of this ABMS.