How to Implement National Information Sharing Strategy: Detailed Elements of the Evolutionary Management Approach Required

摘要

Data sharing is today's principal Information Technology challenge. All sectors--commercial, government, academic, and military--seek improved information exchange to achieve operational benefits, whether in the form of greater profits, improved situational awareness, intellectual advancement, or ability to respond to threats endangering respective interests. Nations and organizations within and across nations have set forth policies to promote greater data sharing, but often without empowering or enabling change agents to introduce measurably better capabilities. While progress is being made in some quarters, in others there is almost a counter-reaction where organizations are closing in on themselves, perpetuating traditional closed pockets of valuable information, even if sometimes having the appearance of adhering to the new policies. The advances are coming in fits and starts, resembling chaotic self- organizing systems, but with no overriding pressure to bring about incremental adaptive improvements. This paper describes an evolutionary management approach that addresses this fundamental failure in many current programs to achieve greater efficiency in data sharing. We advocate adoption of corresponding policy guidelines by the DoD.