Author: Tim Grant, Fred Geugies, Peter Jongejan

1. Social media in C2:
Proof-of-principle experiment
Tim Grant, Fred Geugies, Peter Jongejan
r̅

2. Overview
• Goals:
– To describe proof-of-principle experiment to test
extended framework for C2 using social media (SM)
• Outline:
– Relevant theory
– Proof-of-principle experiment:
• Design
• Performance
• Results & analysis
– Conclusions & further research
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3. Theory (1)
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Citizen1 Citizenn
Building
situation
awareness
(a) Integration,
aggregation and
validation of
citizen generated
content
Early warning;
Instructions
(b) Citizen
Communication
Sender
Citizen
Organizations
Organizations Citizen Receiver
Reuter, Marx & Pipek, 2011
(c) Self Help
Communities
“Run uphill to escape tsunami”
Organization
(d) Inter-
organizational
Crisis
Management
Inter-organizational
communication

4. Theory (2)
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Receiver
Organization Citizen
Sender Citizen White et al (2009)
Starbird & Pane (2010)
Starbird & Stamberger (2010)
Bajpal & Jaiswal (2010)
Latonero & Shklovski (2010)
Tapia et al (2011)
Wiedenhöfer et al (2011)
Thomson et al (2012)
Starbird Muzny & Palen (2012)
Denis et al (2012)
Terpstra et al (2012)
Zielinski & Bügel (2012)
Manso & Manso (2012)
Addams-Moring (2007)
Vieweg et al (2008)
Liu et al (2008)
Sutton et al (2008)
Hughes et al (2008)
Hughes & Palen (2009)
Kavanaugh et al (2010)
Sutton (2010)
Perng et al (2012)
Kavanaugh et al (2012)
Organization Montells et al (2006)
Reuter et al (2009)
Manso & Manso (2012) (intra-org only)
Valtonen et al (2004)
Addams-Moring et al (2005)
Eysink Smeets & Sillem (2005)
Wood (2005)
Zimmerman (2005)
Sillem & Wiersma (2006)
Seddign et al (2006)
Latonero & Shklovski (2010)
Kelley et al (2011)
Wiedenhöfer et al (2011)
Denis et al (2012)
Nilsson et al (2012)
Sutto et al (2012)
Manso & Manso (2012)

5. Theory (3)
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Mintzberg, 1980
C-level (CEO, CFO, CIO)
(i.e. policy makers)
Back-office
First responders / onsite /
employees in the field
(front-office)
(Process Under Control)
Controllers / commanders
(line-managers)
(Controlling Process)

6. Theory (4)
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Receiver
Organisations Citizens
CP PUC
Sender Citizens (N/A) (a) Citizen-generated
content
(c) Self-help
Organisations PUC Observations
(SITREPs)
On-site / self-
synchronisation
(could be seen as (d)
intra-organisational
coordination)
(b) Citizen
communications
CP (d) Inter-
organisational
coordination
Instructions
(Op Orders / plans)
(N/A)
Jongejan & Grant, 2012

7. Theory (5)
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observations
instructions
outputs
inputs
Controlling Process
Process Under Control
Environment
Organization
Citizens
Focus of
our research
Past
research

8. Proof-of-principle (1)
• Proof-of-principle:
– “Realization of idea, concept, or theory to
demonstrate feasibility or potential for use”
– Characteristics:
• Small prima facie experiment
• Raises technology readiness level (TRL):
– TRL 2: Technology concept formulated (Jongejan & Grant, 2012)
– TRL 3: Analytical & experimental proof of concept
– “Faster, better, cheaper” = new vs. old:
• Condition A: legacy C2 technology (e-mail, paper maps)
• Condition B: social media in C2 (Twitter, CrowdMap)
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Wikipedia, 2013
Mankins, 1995

9. Proof-of-principle (2)
• Experiment design:
– Scenario:
• Transporting food by truck from Port Sudan to Darfur
– Simulated organization:
• CP: NGO HQ in Europe
• PUCs in Sudan: Truck convoy, fuel supplier, & NGO rep
• Command Post Exercise (CPX); rest hand-simulated
– Human subjects:
• Officer-cadets:
– Early 20’s; 3rd
/4th
year; digital natives; selected on availability
– Trained in network-enabled (military) C2
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10. Proof-of-principle (3)
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NGO HQ in Europe
(CP)
Truck convoy
(PUC1)
Diesel fuel supplier
(PUC2)
Rep in Khartoum
(PUC3)
Geugies, 2012
Email: up & down hierarchy
(Condition A)
SM: across hierarchy (“network-centric” / “self-synchronisation” / ”empowered”)
(and up & down hierarchy if so addressed using @)
(Condition B)

11. Proof-of-principle (4)
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Geugies, 2012

12. Proof-of-principle (5)
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Twitter (comms)
CrowdMap (SA)
Geugies, 2012

13. Proof-of-principle (6)
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Geugies, 2012

14. Proof-of-principle (7)
• Results (1/2) – N.B. triangulation:
– (Subjective) Questionnaires:
• Positive:
– Benefit (3); self-synchronization (1); overview (1)
• Negative:
– Security (1); information overload (1); need clear jargon (1)
– (Objective) Predicted vs actual (simulated) times:
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Geugies, 2012
Condition A (email) Condition B (SM)
Predicted time 5 days 5 hours 4 days 8 hours
Actual time 5 days 5 hours 4 days 6½ hours

15. Proof-of-principle (8)
• Results (2/2):
– (Objective) Numbers of messages:
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Geugies, 2012
Actor Messages sent Messages received
Condition A Condition B Condition A Condition B
CP (NGO HQ) 24 5 (intent 1) 27 23
PUC1 (trucks) 26 37 32 23
PUC2 (fuel) 10 11 17 18
PUC3 (rep) 4 8 8 9
Totals: 64 61 84 73

16. Conclusions & limitations
• Conclusions:
– Proof of principle supports theoretical framework
– SM technology aligned to network-centric “business model”:
• Facilitates self-synchronization / empowerment
• Limitations:
– No replication
– Same subjects ran Condition A followed by Condition B:
• Countered learning effect by extra event in Condition B
• Anticipated learning by predicting shorter makespan, Condition B
– Hence, claiming only proof of principle:
• IF use SM technology AND users trained in network-enabled C2
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17. Further research
• Contribution:
– Further research into social media in C2 is justified
• Possible further research:
– Raising TRL: Concept Development & Experimentation (CDE)
– Socio-organizational issues:
• Harnessing wisdom of the crowd
• Roles for volunteers
• Recruiting & training digital natives
– Fit with other technologies:
• Bring Your Own Device
• App stores (for crisis response & management)
• Natural language processing (speech to text; extract geo info)
– Peter and I seek collaborators!
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18. Any questions?
Tim Grant
Professor emeritus
Retired But Active Researcher (R-BAR)
tim.grant.work@gmail.com
+31 (0)638 193 749

19. Reserve slides

20. Theory (7)
Level Description
TRL 1 Basic principles observed and reported
TRL 2 Technology concept and/or application formulated
TRL 3 Analytical & experimental function and/or characteristic proof-of-concept
TRL 4 Component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environment
TRL 5 Component and/or breadboard validation in relevant environment
TRL 6 System/subsystem model or prototype demonstration in relevant environment
TRL 7 System prototype demonstration in space [i.e. operational] environment
TRL 8 Actual system completed and flight-qualified through test & demonstration
TRL 9 Actual system flight-proven through successful mission operations
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Mankins, 1995 (ESA variant)

21. John Wayne 2.0
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Collignon, Volkskrant, 2013