Information Management: Is the U.S. Army prepared for Information Superiority.

摘要

Although the Army Vision 2010 states that one of the keys to success on the modern battlefield is to achieve information superiority, the current U. S. Army doctrine in this area does not support it. Specifically, the topic of information management, one of the fundamentals in information superiority, is lacking in the clarity and depth required to meet this lofty goal. Operational advantages of information superiority are obtained through the systematic provision of clear, accurate, and useable information. Under the current doctrine, the discussion is limited to the products and ignores the process. If a product focus is not addressed the U.S. Army will not reach the stated goal of information superiority. To understand this serious deficiency, this study examines current doctrinal definitions and concepts of information management and compared them with business and academic writings on the subject. The intent was to assess if the Army's concepts are sufficient to manage the information that we strive to create. The researched revealed that the Army is not prepared. Doctrine does not provide guidance on the concept of information management as a system. The doctrinal definitions identify products and qualities of information but fail to discuss frameworks and principles that are essential to information management. This gap in information management doctrine makes it nearly impossible to achieve the goal of information superiority. The Army must address these weaknesses in current doctrine. To improve information management, the Army must redefine the term information management in a manner that supports a systems approach, produce a conceptual framework for its application, publish principles of information management, and produce a single source document for information management doctrine.