C2 JOURNAL 2011 - Intense Collaboration for Command and Control: Human and Technology Capabilities

Intense Collaboration for Command and Control: Human and Technology Capabilities

The International C2 Journal is currently seeking papers for a Special Issue on Intense Collaboration for Command and Control: Human and Technology Capabilities.

Scope of the Issue

Military Command and Control (C2) operations are increasingly dynamic and complex as witnessed in asymmetric warfare, humanitarian assistance, and responses to natural disasters of great magnitude. Networked communications systems have demonstrated excellent decision support capabilities in organic units and serve as a model for future integrated multi-organization efforts. In recent case studies of extreme disasters, the need for intense collaboration among a diverse group of stakeholders and decision makers has emerged. Such collaboration needs to be supported by human and technology capabilities.

Intense Collaboration fits the working definition of collaboration (working together for a common purpose), but goes beyond it in that the collaboration process is continuous, all the participants are highly active and likely to be using a variety of advanced communication technologies, the amount of information exchange and discussion is high because the perspectives and goals of the participants differ and must be reconciled, and there is considerable time pressure to reach workable solutions. Intense Collaboration is a natural response to highly complex, dynamic situations that are being addressed by groups or teams from different backgrounds, such as complex endeavors.

Intense collaboration is characterized by situations demanding behaviors of a that are marked by high levels of uncertainty, various understanding of the problems at hand, tight coupling of work processes, and simultaneous need for information on varied topics. In these settings, stakes are high, there are many organizations competing for scarce resources, elements of the problem are uncertain and changing, and information needs vary among members of the team. To manage the intensity of these factors, advanced technology solutions need to be designed to support human needs for information and understanding. Social aspects of team and leader behaviors also need to be understood in the context of intense collaboration to optimize human performance. This special issue of the C2 Journal will explore the human and technology requirements needed to support intense collaborative decision making.

This special issue is looking for papers to drive the discussion on the issues mentioned above and related questions forward. We are looking for theoretic contributions as well as lessons learned that can be generalized. The list of topics comprises, but is not limited to:

Social aspects of small group and leader behavior that are relevant to teams comprised of diverse members with competing interests but focused on a shared goal that is marked by the need for intense collaboration
Advanced technology solutions that can be used by teams to manage aspects of a dynamic and chaotic problems
Case studies of military operations, humanitarian assistance, or natural disaster response that speak directly to the nature of team operations and describe lessons learned in social and/or technology applications
Social network analysis of a dissimilar team organized to confront a complex problem, with focus on divergence and convergence points, in order to advance understanding of intense collaboration processes that may be particularly amenable to technology solutions
Measures of performance and measures of effectiveness that can be used to gauge leader and team behaviors and outcomes
Live technology spaces that allow multi-media applications for distributed team members to meet in real time and share complex data, plan multiple projects, and understand social behaviors among team members
Submissions

Draft papers must be submitted by close of business on 1 October, 2010, to our Guest Editor, Elizabeth Bowman, at liz.bowman-AT-us.army.mil.

For formatting guidelines and policies regarding our evaluation process and related matters, please visit the IC2J Author Information Center.

If you have any questions please contact the Publications Coordinator, Sabrina Reed at reed-AT-ebrinc.com.