The Air Force Security Cooperation Knowledgebase: a critical enabler moves into the future

DISAM Journal, March, 2008 by Neal A. Schier

In 2004, senior Air Force leaders directed the development of a software tracking tool that would allow users within the Air Force Security Cooperation Community, ranging from Action Officers and Attaches to senior leaders and decision makers, to quickly gain a complete overview of all Air Force Security Cooperation and Assistance efforts within a country, region, or even across combatant command (COCOM) lines of responsibility. The senior leaders recognized that there is simply so much information that pertains to security cooperation endeavors that it has been historically difficult, if not impossible, to gain a satisfactory picture of what is really occurring in an area of interest. Information such as security cooperation strategies, foreign military sales (FMS), officer exchanges, education and training programs, and Theater Support Cooperation Management Information System (TSCMIS) data are all examples of elements that are essential to security cooperation endeavors, but have not, until now, been readily accessible through a one-stop shopping informational portal. The Air Force leadership recognized the need for a single, easy to use tool that would serve as a repository to track all the Air Force's Security Cooperation and Assistance activities. The leadership put forth the challenge that this tool be able to quickly and accurately draw together seemingly disparate strands of data to provide both a context and a base of knowledge--critical enablers in the Air Force's efforts of providing security assistance to the nation's partners and allies.

In 2005, Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs (SAF/IA) Long Range Planning Directorate (SAF/IAG) answered this challenge by establishing a Microsoft SharePoint based software portal that pulled together data relating to Air Force Security Cooperation efforts to present in a crisp, yet detailed, format. Christened the Air Force Security Cooperation Knowledgebase (AFSCK), it now provides users an easy to use information repository that tracks an impressive number of the Air Force's security cooperation activities around the world. Residing on both the unclassified NIPRNET and the classified SIPRNET computer systems, it is at the leading edge of information presentation and has been noted for both its convenient user accessibility and its breadth of information regarding security cooperation activities.

The AFSCK however, is not just another software program or web site. Its sophisticated capabilities extend far beyond the simple presentation of data on a computer screen. In fact, throughout the development of the AFSCK one of the primary goals of the Knowledgebase team has been to provide more than just data that was downloaded from databases around the security cooperation community. The Knowledgebase team understands that users are constantly awash in data--so much so, in fact, that it often loses its meaning due to the sheer volume of data at hand. The Knowledgebase however, transforms that data into information by presenting it within a context. In other words, the Knowledgebase team recognized that the content, the simple bits and bytes of the data, was useless unless it could be framed within a context, or environment, that would lend it meaning. Users need more than just data, they need a presentation that will serve as a base for knowledge and decision making. This mindset of "information and context over a simple data stream" however, presented numerous challenges because the context in which a user views the information is, according to the user's needs, constantly changing.

The Knowledgebase team solved these challenges by allowing the users to tailor the information and data to their requirements by simultaneously grouping and presenting data in a manageable and integrated form, while at the same time, allowing the users to look at the data in as much detail as necessary. Although this sounds complex, it is in practice, elegant and straightforward. A good example is how the Knowledgebase deals with large, and often unwieldy, data stores. The Air Force Security Cooperation Strategy is a voluminous and detailed document that is posted, in its entirety, on the AFSCK. However, if a registered user is looking for information on how the Strategy relates to a specific country, the Knowledgebase provides a page, or view, for every country in the world. This page will then contain a link to the specific section of the Strategy that details the country plan. These country pages of course not only offer the strategy and country plans, but also a trove of additional relevant information that can be used to give the user context regarding security cooperation activities FMS, exchange programs, points of contact, and past bi- and multi-lateral contacts with Air Force leaders are among just a few elements that serve to round out the user's overview of security cooperation efforts within that country. It is this context which enables more accurate, and in turn, better decision making.