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Introducing the Confederation Web

Active Computing. Introducing the Confederation Web. Briefing on behalf of Dr John Allen , Douglas E. Dyer, PhD Doug.Dyer@activecomputing.org http://www.activecomputing.org. Why a Confederation Web?. Integration barriers: (From the DOD Net-Centric Data Strategy)

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Introducing the Confederation Web

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  1. Active Computing Introducing the Confederation Web Briefing on behalf of Dr John Allen, Douglas E. Dyer, PhD Doug.Dyer@activecomputing.org http://www.activecomputing.org

  2. Why a Confederation Web? Integration barriers: (From the DOD Net-Centric Data Strategy) • Users may be unaware that data exists • Users may believe data exists but they don’t knowwhere it is or how to access it • Users may be able to access data but they can’t understand or interpret it Strategy: Overcome barriers with a “Web for variables”: • Make publishing simple so that everyone publishes • Use a pre-defined service and uniform index method • Create search technology that exploits structure • Allow everyone to find information they need • Facilitate understanding with metadata and examples

  3. Confederation WebEnables sharing, discovery, and rapid integration Temporal Plans And Situations Spatial Plans And Situations Template-based Plans And Situations The DISUM template is used for intelligence updates Cause/Effect ConfederationWeb • The Confederation Web is a set of databases which hold variable values for: • different applications • their users • and the problems the users are working on Collaboration COA Selection Situation Monitors Assessment Relational DB Process Management Meta Development Interfaces to External Databases And Information Sources

  4. Example: application = Travel user = bob@roberts.com problem = 1 (Nov trip to JFCOM) User idey: bob@roberts.com

  5. ConfederationWeb Relational DB Confederation WebPre-defined schema makes publishing simple • The Confederation Web has a pre-defined schema with only a few tables for storing: • Current values • History of all values over time • Descriptive metadata for variables and applications Since the schema is pre-defined, developers can immediately publish without negotiation, and content is built up rapidly • Publishers may select the set of variables they provide • Publishers choose the specific text format of values +-------------+---------+ | Field | Type | +-------------+---------+ | application | text | | user | text | | instance | text | | variable | text | | value | text | | source | text | | more | text | | time | int(11) | +-------------+---------+

  6. Confederation WebVisibility & access from anywhere on the net Temporal Plans And Situations Spatial Plans And Situations Template-based Plans And Situations The DISUM template is used for intelligence updates Cause/Effect ConfederationWeb • Relational databases are mature technology with excellent commercial and freeware versions. Features: • Language-independent interface via ODBC, SQL • Security & access control • Consistency Collaboration COA Selection Situation Monitors Assessment Relational DB Process Management +-------------+---------+ | Field | Type | +-------------+---------+ | application | text | | user | text | | instance | text | | variable | text | | value | text | | source | text | | more | text | | time | int(11) | +-------------+---------+ Simple, pre-defined schema enables standard queries

  7. Confederation Web“URL for variable values” +-------------+---------+ | Field | Type | +-------------+---------+ | application | text | | user | text | | instance | text | | variable | text | | value | text | | source | text | | more | text | | time | int(11) | +-------------+---------+ The context for a variable value is: the application the user the user’s problem the name of the variable Those four attributes define a “URL for a variable value.” This constitutes a uniform index method. Extending from a single server to multiple servers adds an additional attribute (the server), just like web URLs

  8. Confederation WebKey Metadata +-------------+---------+ | Field | Type | +-------------+---------+ | application | text | | user | text | | instance | text | | variable | text | | value | text | | source | text | | more | text | | time | int(11) | +-------------+---------+ Metadata attributes source is used to differentiate between a human user setting a value and an agent or AI algorithm setting it on the user’s behalf more is used for additional information, typically natural language time is a timestamp for when the value was set (seconds since 1970)

  9. Confederation WebExample queries Typical pattern: (1) Find the problem based on variable values: SELECT instance FROM coweb WHERE application = ‘Travel’ AND user = ‘bobg@roberts.com’ AND variable = ‘Purpose’ AND value = ‘Experiment B’; (2) Find the value of another variable SELECT value FROM coweb WHERE application = ‘Travel’ AND user = ‘bob@roberts.com’ AND instance = ‘1’ AND variable = ‘PointOfContact’; These details are normally hidden from the user by the application

  10. Confederation WebSearchEngine: Support for discovery SearchEngine lets users browse the Confederation Web, exploiting its structure to show all the applications all the variables for each application all the variable values all the users of each application and all the problems of each user With SearchEngine, you can discover new applications and new variables With Search Engine, you can also see example values for each variable, often giving semantic hints

  11. Confederation WebExamples: Support for understanding The Travel application has several variables whose definitions are not necessarily clear, e.g., “Visiting” Suppose you see the following example values for Visiting: JFCOM DARPA University of Southern California IBM Almaden Research Center From these examples, you might correctly conclude that Visiting describes an organization, not a person or a location which are reasonable alternative assumptions. People often learn by analogy. Examples are a powerful tool for understanding and correctly interpreting the meaning of variables We call this method, “Semanatics by Example” and it is supported by the Confederation Web and SearchEngine These examples arise from use not developer effort…

  12. Confederation WebDescriptions: Support for understanding The Travel application has several variables whose definitions are not necessarily clear, e.g., “Visiting” The traditional method of understanding the meaning of variables is by reading documentation and descriptive metadata provided by the developer. We call this method, “Semanatics by Declaration” because it depends on declared definitions---the developer provides comments in source code, a users manual, system documents, a data dictionary, or an ontology, for example. This is a good method, but it requires extra effort on the part of the developer, in contrast to “Semantics by Example.” The Confederation Web includes a table, elementDescription, for storing declared information for applications and variables.

  13. Confederation WebDescriptions: Support for understanding Support for “Semanatics by Declaration” is provided by the Confederation Web”s elementDescription table: +-------------+------+ | Field | Type | +-------------+------+ | user | text | | application | text | | variable | text | | description | text | | keywords | text | | XML | text | | rules | text | +-------------+------+ Users may have tailored versions of applications Both applications and variables may be described Keywords support search XML is used for DTDs or OWL ontologies Applicable rules may also be included

  14. Confederation WebTranslate and Integrate • Once developers have visibility, access, and understanding about external variables, they can integrate them into applications, improving situation awareness, coordination, and decision-making • Typically, minor translations may be required to • Parse • Change units • Map values into well-defined groups • Example: a variable Temperature with value: 89 (degrees Fahrenheit) • If you need degrees Celsius, a minor translation is needed • At least initially, translation is generally faster than achieving consensus and standardizing data elements, but the two approaches are complementary • Market forces are the best way of improving and standardizing data

  15. Confederation WebSummary • The Confederation Web is a set of databases that store and serve variable values in the context of • An application • A user • A problem the user is addressing • A simple pre-defined schema facilitates publication and access • A “URL for variable values” provides uniform indexing • SearchEngine and “Semantics by Example” facilitate discovery • Traditional “Semantics by Declaration” metadata is also supported • Minor translation is the price of “de-regulated publication” • The benefit: faster build-up of data • In a nutshell: The Confederation Web is a simple design, motivated by the World-Wide Web, for achieving visible, accessible, and available variable values in context.

  16. Backups

  17. Reflex PMESII ModelText-based plans and tailor-able scoring yields predictive assessment Influence scores range from 0-10, with 0 being worst and 10 being best. Keywords are highlighted Point of view: Blue side, area of operations New Questions Pick a data item to score Pick a score To begin, type or cut-and-paste a text description of your plan into Reflex To run the Reflex model, specify the plan or plans to consider and press RunReflex. Optionally, you may include the effect of factor interaction (reflection). Example of a reflection: Military success strengthens political power. You may set the model to return either the influence of the planned actions on the current PMESII state or a prediction of a new PMESII state which might result from planned actions. If you want a new PMESII prediction, Reflex asks you to specify the Confederation Web index that has the current PMESII state, and PGT provides this. You should also set the weight (magnitude of impact) anticipated for your planned actions. Examples: A small demonstration has little political impact, but loss of an election has a major impact. Once analysis is complete, you can write results to the Confederation Web---with this tool, nothing is written until you explicitly publish. Reflex automatically matches questions (data items) in its model with your plan using keywords in context (KWIC) and default scores are assigned based on an assumption that the plan will succeed. If you think the plan will fail, you can adjust the scores downward based on your assessment of key vulnerabilities in the plan. You can also add and score new data items and delete ones you think are not relevant. Reflex is defined by a few hundred questions in PMESII categories and sub-categories. All Reflex model parameters are extendible and tailor-able by end-users in Microsoft Excel. The PlanSet tab allows you to specify a set of plans to consider simultaneously If you are analyzing many plans at once, you can use drill-down to figure out which ones are affecting the PMESII factors the most

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