全球智库信息集成服务系统

Standardization of data yields evolution and innovation, while standardization of the transport and link layers in the design paradigms appears to have inhibited innovation

• Although the independence of the layers may be one key to enabling innovation and evolution of systems, other factors—such as simplicity, extensibility, modularity, or maintainability—may perhaps be just as influential in enabling the innovation and evolution of warfighting.

Design and nondesign features of the standards drove capability evolution

• Design does not appear to be a primary determinant of capability evolution. The network effects of an open and implemented standard (even when poorly implemented) can far outweigh any design considerations.
• In terms of design features, built-in technical means of extensibility enabled the standards to accommodate novel technologies and concepts of operations.
• As for nondesign features, capability evolution was enabled by the early and continual incorporation of feedback from operators, the provision of an open and transparent means of drafting and amending the standard, and an active user and supplier community that provided feedback into the standard design and amendment process.
• Myriad factors besides interface design, such as military doctrine changes and external threats, influence whether a system evolves and whether a system of systems grows up around that system.
• Although good design may not be essential to short-term evolution, poor design can lock in current solutions that make it impossible to evolve further.

The role that interface standards play in fostering interoperability and innovation has been the subject of considerable study. It is generally accepted that today's internet protocol standards have enabled one of the greatest technological and social revolutions in history, fundamentally changing how humans work, learn, and interact. History offers examples in which standards hindered innovation by enshrining the status quo. Therefore, to tease out explanations for which military standards enable interoperability and innovation, the authors address a fundamental question: What features of interface standards foster interoperability and capability evolution? In this report, the authors examine two military standards to better understand a range of paths that could lead to evolutionary success. The authors found that design and nondesign features of the standards drove capability evolution. In terms of design features, built-in technical means of extensibility enabled the standards to accommodate novel technologies and concepts of operations. The authors also found that standardization of data yields evolution and innovation, while standardization of transport and link layers appears to have inhibited innovation. As for nondesign features, the authors found that capability evolution was enabled by the early and continual incorporation of feedback from operators, the provision of a transparent means of drafting and amending the standard, and an active user and supplier community with the means to provide feedback into the standard design and amendment process. The authors illuminate key factors that should be considered as the U.S. military embarks on the design of joint interoperability standards in the future battle space.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Technical Standards and Innovation

• Chapter Three

  STANAG 4607: NATO's Standard for GMTI Data

• Chapter Four

  The Link 16 Communications System

• Chapter Five

  Standards and Warfighting Evolution

• Appendix A

  Description of Capabilities Enabled by STANAG 4607

• Appendix B

  Description of Capabilities Enabled by Link 16