HERMES: Collaboration and Knowledge Interoperability in Maritime Interdiction Operations

Abstract

Abstract : Tactical teams need tools to support their collaboration and to help coordinate their workflow. The HERMES solution consists of two major elements: 1) the SLATE spatial messaging collaboration tool and 2) a new concept called Workflow Coordinating Representations (WCRs) that supports task management and distributed workflow. SLATE imports mission documents, such as maps, images, and timelines, and allows users to share annotations and chat on those documents. WCRs provide a communal representation of team tasks, such as biometric analysis, where all operators can share information, and comment on the on‐going activity. Phase II focused primarily on maritime interdiction tasks and how to develop SLATE concepts to support those activities. Option 1 expanded into the domain of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR). Work during the option consisted of 1) investigation of the spatial communication and workflow requirements of HADR and how SLATE capabilities could be adapted to these HADR requirements, 2) several design concepts for adapting SLATE to HADR, 3) a third experiment in a series to investigate good design properties of WCRs for both well- and ill-structured tasks, such as those found in HADR and maritime interdiction, 3) software developments to increase usability and port SLATE to handheld tablets, 4) a range of transition development activities. The result is a sophisticated tool with great promise for supporting small teams in maritime interdiction, HADR, and beyond, and a better theoretical understanding of small, distributed team workflow requirements and supporting technology.