Information dissemination management—tactical: providing information at the right place and format

Army Communicator, Winter, 2003 by Douglas R. Linton, III

Along with network management and information assurance, the third component of network operations is information dissemination management. IDM provides the right information to the right place at the right time in the proper format. Army Field Manual 6-0 further defines IDM as the capability to provide a managed flow of relevant information based on a commander's mission

The Army's Information Dissemination Management--Tactical Program Office at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey brings the power of IDM to the warfighter. Through tactical automated information services, IDM-T provides several capabilities defined in the Joint NETOPS CONOPS, the Army NETOPS CONOPS, the Global Information Grid Capstone Requirements Document and emerging Signal Regiment information management doctrine.

Key IDM-T capabilities include:

* A unit-tailored IDM-T webbased portal that provides an operational capability to meet staff information requirements and battle rhythm timed information exchanges through a standard browser interface, increasing the warfighter's ability to exchange critical information quickly and easily.

* A unit-tailored channel structure that controls the flow of information, allocates communications resources, and prioritizes information flow, enabling implementation of the commander's dissemination policy.

* Information exchanges through publish, subscribe and alert functions that enable users to send and receive critical information as required.

* Directory replication that enables large directories of information to replicate automatically from rear servers to forward units via optimized routing over high speed links, reducing traffic and bandwidth needs on lower-speed tactical LANs.

* Assured message delivery through JAVA Messaging service that ensures published messages reach the intended user and provides acknowledgement to the originator when messages are viewed.

IDM-T's role-based user access, prioritization and multicasting capability also save bandwidth and reduce delivery times through increased distribution accuracy. The

IDM-T software can reside on standalone servers or may be embedded on existing servers. IDM-T integrates with all existing and planned Army, Joint and multi-national communications systems such as GBS, WIN-T and the Tactical Internet.

IDM-T is a field proven solution being deployed now within selected tactical units at Joint Task Force echelons and below. These include the 2nd Infantry Division, Southern European Task Force, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, 513th Military Intelligence Brigade, and the 501st MI Brigade. IDM-T is also installed at the Fort Gordon Battle Lab. IDM-T is also part of the ASD/C3I Horizontal Fusion Initiative currently underway to accelerate the deployment of information management capabilities by funding the deployment of 25 IDM-T systems.

Future requirements for tactical IDM are found in WIN-T, DCGS-A and Battle Command Operational Requirements Documents and the Army Knowledge Management Strategic Plan, as well as several other documents.

Since information is now an element of combat power and not just a combat multiplier, the effective use of communications networks through efficient automated tools such as IDM-T is of paramount importance. As a key enabler of information superiority objectives, IDM-T will continue to play a critical NETOPS role for Current and Future Forces.

Editor'snote: JAVA--is not an acronym. It is a general purpose, highlevel, object-oriented, cross-platform programming language developed by Sun Microsystems.

Mr. Linton is a retired Signal officer, with present duty as a government contractor within the SIGCEN Directorate of Combat Developments. He is currently supporting the IDM-T Program Office, assisting the Concepts and Doctrine Division within DCD with NETOPS issues.

He has extensive tactical Signal experience, including duty as the 93rd Signal Brigade S3 and support to VII Corps Headquarters during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.