Information exchange in support of C2-interoperability

Large organisations, such as NATO and the armed forces of its member countries, cannot function without the availability of accurate, timely, complete and consistent information. The quality of every decision that is made depends largely on the quality of the information on which the decision is based. This makes information an essential resource for any organisation that must be managed carefully. Due to the intensified level of co-operation between NATO countries, it has become crucial that information can also be shared between armed forces. National forces are deployed ever more often in crisis management situations and (disaster-)relief operations throughout the world, requiring them to work together closely with forces of other countries. Fast and effective collaboration requires a method for information dissemination that is flexible and open. The need to share information between countries translates directly to the requirement that information can be exchanged between their command & control (C2) systems. For this to be possible, the systems must agree to exchange and interpret information in a standardised (unambiguous) way. In other words: the systems must be interoperable. This paper focuses on two existing information exchange standards: ADatP-3 (based on formatted messages) and ATCCIS (based on database replication). After describing and analysing both AdatP-3 and ATCCIS separately, the paper compares the two information exchange standards. Ideas are set forward for a unified approach which tries to capture the best of the two worlds and the paper ends with suggestions for future work.