Steckler, Brian D.

The New Information Environment comprises the technological level of new disruptive capabilities provided by the combination of mobile phones and Internet-based information reservoirs and distribution systems/platforms; the on-the-ground social networks of people all over the world and their relationships to one another; and the new technical and social innovations that these people develop to communicate with one another, coordinate their behavior, and collaborate in the real-world as well as online. Today, the mission-relevant information available is exhaustive as well as partial, vast as well as limited, difficult to comprehend without having the capability to filter, aggregate, fuse, and evaluate the information encountered. New technologies are being developed and are available but they often only add to the confusion. There is no doctrine for the New Information Environment as of yet, and that doctrine, when it is developed, may be transformative to civil-military affairs and other types of analysis to support a variety of operations across the spectrum of conflict. This effort supports initiatives at the Naval Postgraduate School to: (1) develop integrated efforts for research; (2) to fast-track, test and evaluate new capabilities and concepts of operation to support first responders, disaster operations and crisis operations; and (3) develop and support education and training through the development of an online course suited to US Navy, combatant commands, NATO and PfP constituencies.
Cebrowski Institute
Office of Naval Research
Navy
2016