Network based intelligence (NBI) - knowledge base development and use

To support Effect Based Operations (EBO) in the context of NBI, well-organized knowledge concerning target systems is required. The application of EBO will require structured and formalized knowledge in the form of a knowledge base. We have explored the possibilities of applying an existing process, the DCMF process, for Knowledge Base Development (KBD). From an NBI perspective the process seems to provide tools required for consistent and efficient KBD. A key aspect of a knowledge base, supporting intelligence-related analysis, is inclusion of uncertainty estimates. Information is most often associated with a degree of uncertainty, and representing this aspect in the knowledge base is crucial. An NBI related knowledge base needs the ability to handle both the uncertainty and the imprecision of the representation, access, and retrieval of information. Systems that combine the power of probability theory with the flexibility of fuzzy set theory seem to be building components for a future NBI. However, this will require not only further theoretical work on different formal theories, but also further efforts in the efficient implementation of these theories.