NCOW
Encyclopedia
Net-Centric Operations Warfare (also referred to as NCOW, NCOW-RM, or Net-Centric Operations Warfare Reference Model ) describes how the United States Department of Defense
will conduct business operations, warfare, and enterprise management in the future. It is based on the information technology (IT) concept of an assured, dynamic, and shared information environment that provides access to trusted information for all users, based on need, independent of time and place. NCOW is an information-enabled concept of operations that generates increased combat power by networking sensors, decision makers, and shooters. This enables shared awareness, increased speed of command, higher tempo of operations, greater lethality, increased survivability, and a degree of self-synchronization. In essence, network-centric warfare translates information superiority into combat power by effectively linking knowledgeable entities in the battlespace.
NCOW is the result of a long history of United States Department of Defense systems acquisition where each acquisition program independently developed redundant and incompatible systems. These weaknesses were identified in a number of Government Accountability Office
audits and prompted the passage of the Clinger-Cohen Act
, establishment of the Global Information Grid
, and establishment of the DoD Architecture Framework as a part of the business transformation mission of the Department of Defense
. The net-centric
model is the overarching enterprise architecture
for information technology systems within DoD.
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
will conduct business operations, warfare, and enterprise management in the future. It is based on the information technology (IT) concept of an assured, dynamic, and shared information environment that provides access to trusted information for all users, based on need, independent of time and place. NCOW is an information-enabled concept of operations that generates increased combat power by networking sensors, decision makers, and shooters. This enables shared awareness, increased speed of command, higher tempo of operations, greater lethality, increased survivability, and a degree of self-synchronization. In essence, network-centric warfare translates information superiority into combat power by effectively linking knowledgeable entities in the battlespace.
NCOW is the result of a long history of United States Department of Defense systems acquisition where each acquisition program independently developed redundant and incompatible systems. These weaknesses were identified in a number of Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...
audits and prompted the passage of the Clinger-Cohen Act
Clinger-Cohen Act
The Clinger–Cohen Act , formerly the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 , is a 1996 United States federal law, designed to improve the way the federal government acquires, uses and disposes information technology ....
, establishment of the Global Information Grid
Global Information Grid
The Global Information Grid is an all-encompassing communications project of the United States Department of Defense.It is defined as a "globally interconnected, end-to-end set of information capabilities for collecting, processing, storing, disseminating, and managing information on demand to...
, and establishment of the DoD Architecture Framework as a part of the business transformation mission of the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
. The net-centric
Net-centric
Net-centric: : Participating as a part of a continuously-evolving, complex community of people, devices, information and services interconnected by a communications network to achieve optimal benefit of resources and better synchronization of events and their consequences.In military connotation...
model is the overarching enterprise architecture
Enterprise architecture
An enterprise architecture is a rigorous description of the structure of an enterprise, which comprises enterprise components , the externally visible properties of those components, and the relationships between them...
for information technology systems within DoD.
See also
- Network-centric warfareNetwork-centric warfareNetwork-centric warfare, also called network-centric operations, is a military doctrine or theory of war pioneered by the United States Department of Defense in the 1990's....
- DODAF - Architectural framework used to describe and plan NCOW systems