Beyond NEC
Abstract
What is this report about?
The concept of an ‘Edge Organization’ represents a vision of Network Enabled Capability (NEC) as a fully interconnected web of agents and actors. Real-life NEC, however, is thought to adopt a variety of different architectures. This report is about exploring exactly what NEC topologies do arise in practice, and what they mean.
Background and reasoning behind the work
The HFI DTC has already extended the NATO approach space, a widely accepted and popular model of Command and Control (C2), and an opportunity arises in this report to use it to benchmark a live example of NEC. This exercise provides a way of understanding explicitly what it means, organizationally, to occupy different regions of the approach space.
What was undertaken in the research?
A diverse collection of organizations, from theoretical archetypes to terrorist networks, was modelled with social network analysis, and their positions within the enhanced NATO approach space fixed. The supporting evidence and research data appended to these organizations was spun in and used to further our understanding of what sort of organization live-NEC actually is, and could be.
What was discovered?
The NATO approach space (or a very close equivalent) was invented over forty years ago and a substantial retrospective legacy for this modelling approach has been unearthed.
A distinct region of the NATO approach space, into which many organizations gravitate, is associated with the attributes of ‘small world networks’, which are highly relevant to NEC.
Sociotechnical systems theory emerges as a way to re-design organizations in order to make them exhibit these attributes.
Main conclusions and recommendations
Small world networks and sociotechnical systems theory emerge as the specifics behind the generic title of ‘beyond NEC’.
Military relevance of the work
The enhanced NATO approach space provides a conveniently high level view of NEC, ideal for post implementation reviews to non specialist audiences and stakeholders, and an easy way to visualise the impact that some defined change has had upon an organization. It thus contributes to the goal of Through Life Capability Management.
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