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Byting Back: Regaining Information Superiority Against 21st-Century Insurgents
Title: Byting Back: Regaining Information Superiority Against 21st-Century Insurgents
Date: 2007
Author: Martin C. Libicki, et al.
Institution: RAND
Bibliographic Entry: Martin C. Libicki, et al. Byting Back: Regaining Information Superiority Against 21st-Century Insurgents. RAND Corporation. 2007. http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2007/RAND_MG595.1.pdf (Accessed October 4, 2007).
Electronic Link: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2007/RAND_MG595.1.pdf
Key Words: counterinsurgency, information superiority, interagency coordination, national identification system, cell phone network, strategy
Summary of Key Points, Issues, Conclusions:
This 200 page report recognizes that counterinsurgency differs from conventional warfare and thus has different demands on the type of information and information system for understanding the human terrain. RAND asserts that an integrated counterinsurgency operating network (ICON) should be different than that which DoD has built for conventional warfare. The information required for successful operations rests on three pillars: intelligence sources, operators on patrol using voice notes and embedded video, and the population through a national wiki, registry-census, and cell phones. In addition, the integrated counterinsurgency operating network (ICON) will rest on 7 principles:
1. emphasize user primacy, inclusiveness, and integration
2. build ICON to be a single network and wholly transferable to indigenous forces
3. audit frequently with an emphasize what people do with information rather than what information people have
4. tune ICON to the level of insurgency – clandestine and open
5. make available value-added services through ICON, but not mandatory in order to add richness, but maintain flexibility
6. establish a standard deck and populate it from a national Wiki
7. rank information by reliability and relevance
The US is the unrivaled leader in virtually every aspect of information networking and with the proper incentives, market forces will provide most of the drive needed to develop the extensions and infrastructure needed to create this new information invironment.
Name of Researcher: Katie Stout
Institution: Integrative Center for Homeland Security, Texas A&M University
Date Posted: October 8, 2007