Ubiquitous computing: omnipresent technology in support of Network Centric Warfare

The US military is in the midst of a transformation. While business leaders moved quickly to put computing power in the hands of individuals, the military establishment has been less responsive. Network Centric Warfare is a current US Navy initiative to leverage the power of the computer to restructure forces from the bottom up. Instead of a strict hierarchy where decisions are pushed down, networked warfighters will cooperatively pursue the strategic goals of the commander in a much more decentralized fashion. Essential to the idea of Network Centric Warfare is the proliferation of ever-present information systems, or ubiquitous computing capabilities, where the computer (or rather, the networked computing capability) is no longer the focus of human attention, but rather, becomes invisible. The paper summarizes the introduction of CommandNet, a group support system, into a large-scale wargaming environment to create networks of concerted actors and develop ubiquitous computing relationships.