ISA: a prototype intelligent scheduling assistant for defense acquisition management

An application of artificial intelligence to defense acquisition management is described showing how knowledge-based methods could improve scheduling of defense acquisition programs. The authors first determined the kind of knowledge needed to tailor schedules and then developed a framework for using that knowledge to generate tailored schedules. Thirty-five characteristics were identified for defense acquisition programs. These characteristics affect the applicability, duration, and relationships of tasks required to go from receipt of a program management directive to a contract award. Based on these considerations the resulting knowledge-based prototype system called ISA (intelligent scheduling assistant) uses the values of acquisition program characteristics to generate tailored schedules. The concept is applicable to any project scheduling problem based on network models