Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2006. / Title from title screen (viewed Aug. 29, 2008). "February 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-150). Also issued in paper format.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, Sept. 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Alexander Bordetsky. Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-91). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): Alexander Bordetsky. Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-40). Also available online.

The Internet and networks in general have become essential tools for disseminating in-formation. Search engines have become the predominant means of finding information on the Web and all other data repositories, including local resources. Domain scientists regularly acquire and analyze images generated by equipment such as microscopes and cameras, resulting in complex image files that need to be managed in a convenient manner. This type of integrated environment has been recently termed a netcentric sci-entific research repository. I developed a number of data manipulation tools that allow researchers to manage their information more effectively in a netcentric environment. The specific contributions are: (1) A unique interface for management of data including files and relational databases. A wrapper for relational databases was developed so that the data can be indexed and searched using traditional search engines. This approach allows data in databases to be searched with the same interface as other data. Fur-thermore, this approach makes it easier for scientists to work with their data if they are not familiar with SQL. (2) A Web services based architecture for integrating analysis op-erations into a repository. This technique allows the system to leverage the large num-ber of existing tools by wrapping them with a Web service and registering the service with the repository. Metadata associated with Web services was enhanced to allow this feature to be included. In addition, an improved binary to text encoding scheme was de-veloped to reduce the size overhead for sending large scientific data files via XML mes-sages used in Web services. (3) Integrated image analysis operations with SQL. This technique allows for images to be stored and managed conveniently in a relational da-tabase. SQL supplemented with map algebra operations is used to select and perform operations on sets of images.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Organizational structure has profound effects on a joint force commander's ability to perform military actions. Organizations and their environment exhibit an interdependent relationship, requiring a commander to evolve his organization to rapidly achieve mission accomplishment. The CNO Strategic Studies Group XIX report of September 2000 has identified the FORCEnet as being the basis for the U.S. Navy's future network-centric organization, and outlines a military environment that includes multitudes of manned and unmanned vehicles, platforms, sensors, weapons and warfighters. These naval elements will operate jointly, leveraging organizational structure to rapidly sense, assess, and respond to the defense of the nation's security interests as directed by the President. The focus of this research is to examine this envisioned future military environment, the military actions required to achieve success in that environment and the organizational structure(s) that will best fit those action requirements. / Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Singapore and many parts of Asia were hit with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in March 2003. The spread of SARS lead to a rapidly deteriorating and chaotic situation. Because SARS was a new infection, there was no prior knowledge that could be referenced to tackle such a complex, unknown and rapidly changing problem. Fortunately, through sound measures coupled with good leadership, quick action and inter-agency cooperation, the situation was quickly brought under control. This thesis uses the SARS incident as a case study to identify a set of network centric warfare methodologies and technologies that can be leveraged to facilitate the understanding and management of complex and rapidly changing situations. The same set of methodologies and technologies can also be selectively reused and extended to handle other situations in asymmetric and unconventional warfare. / Office of Force Transformation, DoD US Future Systems Directorate, MINDEF Singapore. / Lieutenant, Republic of Singapore Army / Civilian, Defence Science and Technology Agency, Singapore

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / Military leaders and scholars alike debate the existence of a revolution in military affairs (RMA) based on information technology. This thesis will show that the Information RMA not only exists, but will also reshape how we plan, operate, educate, organize, train, and equip forces for the 21st century. This thesis introduces the Communication Technology (CommTech) Model to explain how communication technologies affect organizations, leadership styles, and decision-making processes. Due to the growth in networking enterprises, leaders will have to relinquish their tight, centralized control over subordinates. Instead, they will have to perfect their use of softer power skills such as influence and trust as they embrace decentralized decision-making. Network Centric Warfare, Self-Synchronization, and Network Enabled Operations are concepts that provide the framework for integrating information technology into the battlespace. The debate that drives centralized versus decentralized control in network operations is analyzed with respect to the CommTech Model. A new term called Operational Trust is introduced and developed, identifying ways to make it easier to build trust among network entities. Finally, the thesis focuses on what leaders need to do to shape network culture for effective operations. / Major, United States Air Force

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Wireless mesh mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) provide the military with the opportunity to spread information superiority to the tactical battlespace in support of network-centric warfare (NCW). These mesh networks provide the tactical networking framework for providing improved situational awareness through ubiquitous sharing of information including remote sensor and targeting data. The Naval Postgraduate School's Tactical Network Topology (TNT) project sponsored by US Special Operations Command seeks to adapt commercial off the shelf (COTS) information technology for use in military operational environments. These TNT experiments rely on a variety of airborne nodes including tethered balloon and UAVs such as the Tern to provide reachback from nodes on the ground to the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) as well as to simulate the information and traffic streams expected from UAVs conducting surveillance missions and fixed persistent sensor nodes. Airborne mesh nodes have unique requirements that can be implemented with COTS technology including single board computers and compact flash. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Στα πλαίσια της διδακτορικής μας διατριβής ασχοληθήκαμε με προβλήματα διαχείρισης δικτυακών πληροφοριακών συστημάτων που βασίζονται σε τεχνολογίες παγκόσμιου ιστού (network-centric information systems, netcentric information systems, web information systems). Η έννοια της δικτυο-κεντρικής προσέγγισης (netcentric) προσπαθεί να αποδώσει την τάση να χρησιμοποιείται η δικτυακή υποδομή και τεχνολογία όλο και περισσότερο στα πληροφοριακά συστήματα και τις εφαρμογές παγκόσμιου ιστού για να παρέχουν, να δημοσιοποιούν, να διαμοιράζουν και να επικοινωνούν online υπηρεσίες και πληροφορίες. Κύριος στόχος της διατριβής είναι α) η διασφάλιση της ποιότητας κατά την εξυπηρέτηση, β) η μείωση του χρόνου εντοπισμού και γ) η εξατομίκευση υπηρεσιών και πληροφοριών σε δικτυακά πληροφοριακά περιβάλλοντα και εφαρμογές που βασίζονται σε τεχνολογίες μηχανικής Παγκόσμιου Ιστού. Σε πρώτο επίπεδο, οι αποδοτικοί αλγόριθμοι που αναπτύξαμε αφορούν τις υπηρεσίες Web Services που έχουν σχεδιαστεί να υποστηρίζουν διαλειτουργική αλληλεπίδραση μεταξύ μηχανών με χρήση δικτυακής υποδομής. Πρόκειται ένα τεχνολογικό πλαίσιο το οποίο προτυποποιήθηκε από το W3 Consortium (http://www.w3.org) και γνωρίζει την ευρεία υποστήριξη τόσο της επιστημονικής κοινότητας τεχνολογιών πληροφορικής και επικοινωνιών όσο και των επαγγελματιών μηχανικών Η/Υ και της βιομηχανίας πληροφορικής παγκοσμίως. Αναλυτικότερα στο πρώτο μέρος της διατριβής δίνουμε αρχικά μία νέα κατηγοριοποίηση και συγκριτική παρουσίαση των λύσεων και προβλημάτων που αφορούν αποδοτικές λύσεις αλγορίθμων διαχείρισης και αναζήτησης υπηρεσιών. Στη συνέχεια, εισάγουμε μια σειρά από νέους αποδοτικούς αλγορίθμους διαχείρισης και αναζήτησης υπηρεσιών που διασφαλίζουν την ποιότητα της παρεχόμενης υπηρεσίας και βελτιώνουν την πολυπλοκότητα στο χρόνο εντοπισμού μιας υπηρεσίας. Συνολικά στο πρώτο μέρος παρουσιάζουμε: - Αποδοτικούς αλγορίθμους δυναμικής επιλογής Web Service που λαμβάνουν υπόψη μη λειτουργικές προδιαγραφές για ποιότητα και απόδοση κατά την προσπάθεια χρήσης (consumption) του Web Service (QoWS enabled WS discovery). - Αποδοτικούς αλγορίθμους διαχείρισης και αναζήτησης υπηρεσιών δικτυο-κεντρικών πληροφοριακών συστημάτων οι οποίοι βασίζονται σε αποκεντρικοποιημένες δικτυακές λύσεις ειδικά σχεδιασμένες για WS καταλογογράφηση (decentralized WS discovery). Σε δεύτερο επίπεδο, δίνουμε αποδοτικές προσαρμοστικές μεθόδους για την εξατομίκευση των αποτελεσμάτων αναζήτησης πληροφοριών στον Παγκόσμιο Ιστό. Με τον τρόπο αυτό επιτυγχάνουμε βελτίωση της απόδοσης τόσο για τις εσωτερικές λειτουργίες διαχείρισης και αναζήτησης των δικτυακών πληροφοριακών συστημάτων όσο και του τελικού αποτελέσματος, της πληροφορίας δηλαδή, που παρουσιάζουν τα συστήματα αυτά στον τελικό χρήστη. Συγκεκριμένα, στο δεύτερο μέρος της διατριβής εισάγουμε μια σειρά από τρεις αλγορίθμους εξατομίκευση των αποτελεσμάτων αναζήτησης, οι οποίοι βασίζονται σε τεχνικές μετρικών συνδέσμων (link metrics). Το κύριο πλεονέκτημα των τεχνικών που προτείνουμε είναι ότι επιτρέπουν, με τη χρήση μιας αρκετά απλής μεθοδολογίας, την εξατομίκευση των αποτελεσμάτων αναζήτησης, χωρίς να επιβαρύνονται οι χρήστες σε όγκο αποθήκευσης ή με καθυστερήσεις λόγου χρόνου εκτέλεσής τους. Επιτυγχάνουμε εξατομικευμένη αναζήτηση εφαρμόζοντας τεχνικές ανάλυσης και επεξεργασίας συνδέσμων όχι στο γράφο ιστού αλλά για πρώτη φορά σε αρκετά μικρότερους εξατομικευμένους γράφους που σχηματίζονται από διαθέσιμες σημασιολογικές ταξονομίες. Συνοψίζοντας τα ερευνητικά αποτελέσματα του δεύτερου μέρους παρουσιάζουμε τα ακόλουθα: - Αποδοτικοί αλγόριθμοι για εξατομικευμένη αναζήτηση πληροφορίας (personalized searching) στον Παγκόσμιο Ιστό. - Μηχανισμός προσαρμοστικής παρουσίασης αποτελεσμάτων αναζήτησης με χρήση πολλαπλών επιπέδων κατηγοριοποίησης. - Επέκταση των αλγορίθμων για μηχανισμούς στοχευμένης συλλογής σελίδων (focused web crawlers) που αποτελούν εναλλακτική της εξατομικευμένης αναζήτησης πληροφοριών. Τέλος στο τρίτο και τελευταίο μέρος της διατριβής παρουσιάζουμε μια σειρά από εφαρμογές, αρχιτεκτονικές και λειτουργικά πλαίσια τα οποία αφορούν δικτυακά πληροφοριακά περιβάλλοντα στα οποία εφαρμόζουμε τεχνικές διαχείρισης υπηρεσιών και μηχανισμούς εξατομίκευσης πληροφοριών. O κύριος στόχος της παρουσίασης των λύσεων αυτών είναι να επιδειχθεί ότι οι προτεινόμενοι αποδοτικοί αλγόριθμοι, που παρουσιάστηκαν στα προηγούμενα κεφάλαια, έχουν εφαρμογή σε πολλαπλά προβλήματα διαφορετικών επιστημονικών και τεχνολογικών πεδίων που χρησιμοποιούν δικτυακά πληροφοριακά συστήματα και εφαρμογές παγκόσμιου ιστού. / In our PhD dissertation we dealt with performance issues in network - centric information systems, netcentric information systems and web information systems. Netcentric approach attempts to depict the augmenting tendency to use the network communication in information systems and web applications in order to provide, to publish, to distribute and to communicate online services and information. The key aim of our doctoral thesis is a) the quality at the service provision, v) the reduction of discovery time and c) the personalization of services and information in network information systems and applications that are based on web engineering technologies. Initially, we studied, designed and implemented efficient algorithms concerning Web Services technologies that have been designed to facilitate interoperable service integration using network infrastructure. Web Services Architecture has been standardized by W3 Consortium (http://www.w3.org) as the technological framework and it has received the wide support of the information technology scientific community as well as the information technology (IT) professionals and industry worldwide. In the first section we introduce a new categorization and comparative presentation of the available algorithmic solutions for service management and discovery. Then, we introduce a series of new efficient algorithms that ensure quality of service provision and improve time complexity in service discovery. Overall in the first part of the thesis we present: - Efficient algorithms for dynamic Web Service selection taking into account non-functional specifications (Quality of Web Service – QoWS) and performance issues during Web Service (WS) consumption attempt (i.e. QoWS enabled WS discovery). - Efficient algorithms for service management and discovery in network centric information systems that are based on decentralized network approaches specifically designed for WS discovery. In the sequel, we propose efficient adaptive methods for personalized web searching. In this way we provide performance improvement both for the internal management and discovery functionality of web based net-centric information systems as well as for the systems’ output that is the end-user information. In particular, in the second section, we introduce a series of three new algorithms for personalized searching. The proposed algorithms are mainly based on link metrics techniques. Their main advantage is that they allow, with the use of a simple methodology, search results personalization, with minimum overhead in terms of storage volume and computation time. We achieve personalized search using link analysis in a personalized graph much smaller one than the whole web graph. The personalized graph is shaped taking advantage of semantic taxonomies. Summarizing the novel research results of this second section are the following: - Efficient algorithms for personalized web information searching. - Adaptive presentation mechanisms of search results with the use of multiple levels of novel categorization. - Extension that allows the adoption of the algorithms for the case of focused web crawling mechanisms, which constitute an alternative personalized searching approach. Finally in the third and last section of our thesis, we present a series of applications, architectures and frameworks of different web based net-centric information environments cases, in which we apply our techniques for service management and personalized information discovery. The main objective of this presentation is to show that the efficient algorithms presented in the previous sections, have multiple potentials of application in problems of different research and technological areas using web based net-centric informative systems and web applications. Cases presented include network management information systems, e-learning approaches, semantic mining and multimedia retrieval systems, web content and structure maintenance solutions and agricultural information systems.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This thesis attempts to create a desire for change in DoD's current approach to Network Application Management (NAM). The evolution of NAM into Integrated Network Application Management (INAM) is a crucial component of Network Centric Warfare and achieving Information Superiority and Interoperability. INAM is outlined as three functional requirements, which are Network Awareness, Mission Prioritization linkage to Network Resources, and the Balancing of Service Management. Scenarios play a key role in illustrating the new threats that DoD faces today. These scenarios also identify limitations and challenges to NAM as it exists today. These challenges require significant improvements in flexibility and responsiveness, while providing for wide integration. Trends supporting change are identified in this thesis. Two of the more important trends are the rise of Architectural and Object Oriented Development. Examples such as Training and Testing Enabled Architecture (TENA), Surveillance and Target Acquisition Network (STAN), and Virtual Proving Ground (VPG) are clear examples of these trends. The merging of the Computer Industry's efforts to expand the reach of Operating Systems with the traditional efforts from Network Management is also a trend that is examined. Organizations like Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) are important to such examinations. Successful change can not be achieved without planning for the transition. This thesis also presents some active transition efforts addressing Network Centric Warfare. TENA, VPG and Naval Postgraduate School's Information Technology Management Master's Program provide three examples of addressing transition in DoD. / Civilian, United States Army Yuma Proving Ground