By Col. Robert S. Spalding III & Dr. Adam Lowther
Creating a military “Internet of things” will empower the U.S. to succeed in “informationized” warfare in Asia.
As the Arab Spring, ISIS, and Anonymous all illustrate, the emergence of the Internet has ushered in a new world of communication and collaboration that is challenging the power of the nation-state to control its own citizens and those from outside its borders seeking to influence what occurs inside. Thanks to the Internet, people can share beliefs and ideals, and organize via social networks for good (in the case of crowdsourcing relief in disaster zones) or evil (in the case of ISIS). For the United States and its military, turning these developments to their advantage is critical if American power is to remain preeminent in the Asia-Pacific in coming years.
Governments are working to stay abreast of technological developments but are all too often far behind the private sector. One nascent governmental effort comes from the U.S. Air Force, which is using crowdsourcing via Collaboratory, a tool that allows the public to work with Airmen on real Air Force projects. The Federal Emergency Management Agency uses crowdsourcing to improve efficiency in handling disasters. In fact, it has an app that allows people to take photos of disasters and display them on a public map for others to view. The State Department is also making an effort, sending automated safety warnings and alerts to Americans traveling abroad via social media. The Department of Defense (DoD) also employs social media and other internet and cyber-tools to accomplish its own missions, such as its All Partners Access Network.
Despite these efforts, governmental organizations rarely match the collaboration that goes into organizing a flash mob. In warfare, arguably the most organizationally daunting of human endeavors, DoD was enormously successful at delivering firepower in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet, it has done so only at great expense. Insurgents and terrorists have not been successful at defeating the U.S. military on the battlefield, yet they were and remain successful in delivering their own firepower in a much more cost effective manner. In addition, they appear to be winning the war of ideas, as demonstrated by ISIS’s success in recruiting fighters from around the world, including the United States. Why then has the United States not learned from its adversaries and turned to such web and cyber-based approaches?
Read the full story at The Diplomat