Military Joint Decision Support

Australian Capability Development Group / Joint Decision Support Centre, 2010–2012

llied partners overseas, creating an environment in which complex capability questions could be addressed across organisational and national boundaries.

The JDSC therefore existed simultaneously as a physical and electronic environment. It provided a setting in which people could work with simulated systems and scenarios, while also functioning as a connected node within a much larger distributed network of simulation, experimentation and decision-support capability.

IGOR was engaged from 2010 to 2012 to bring human science expertise into the development and delivery of this capability. The focus was on the human element of systems-of-systems decision making: understanding how people interact with complex information, models, simulations and decision-support tools, and applying that knowledge to ensure the environment supported effective decision making.

The work contributed to the needs and requirements phase of the Australian Defence Capability Development Lifecycle. IGOR brought its knowledge of human behaviour, cognition, organisational systems and decision making directly into the design of the decision-support environment. This expertise was essential to developing a solution that accounted for how people interpret complex information, make decisions under uncertainty and interact with the systems intended to support them.

The work incorporated future modelling and scenario development. Future situations were constructed and explored through simulation and experimentation. Some activities were conducted through electronic simulation; others used physical environments and direct participation within the simulated or experimental setting.

IGOR’s role extended beyond providing specialist advice. IGOR designed and delivered the experimentation environment itself, working with Defence scientists, computer scientists, military subject matter experts and industry to develop the scenarios, supporting software, simulation and activities required to address future strategic and capability questions.

The experimentation was highly iterative. IGOR directed the programme as it unfolded, coordinating participants, specialist inputs, technical teams and supporting systems while maintaining the coherence and purpose of the overall activity. Where gaps, errors, inappropriate assumptions or weaknesses in the environment became apparent, they could be addressed and incorporated into the programme as it progressed.

An important component of IGOR’s contribution was its understanding of the cognitive and behavioural factors affecting decision quality. Complex experimentation can produce technically sophisticated outputs without necessarily producing a sound decision environment. Understanding how people interpret information, respond to uncertainty, follow or challenge others, respond to competing inputs and interact with technical representations was therefore fundamental to designing and running the capability effectively.

This was a critical distinction between experimentation and war gaming. War gaming could be used as one tool within the broader capability, but experimentation was not synonymous with moving opposing forces through a simulated scenario. The purpose was to create an environment in which complex future capability questions could be developed and decisions supported through the interaction of people, technology, information, expertise and scenarios.

IGOR therefore had to maintain the integrity of the whole decision-support system: the participants, the military and scientific expertise, the simulation, the software, the scenario, the information environment and the sequence of activities. The programme could be adjusted as required to ensure that the experimentation remained productive and that participants could continue progressing the strategic questions they had been brought together to address.

The JDSC was consequently more than a technical simulation environment. It was a decision-support capability in which simulation, modelling and technology were used to support human strategic decision making. The people in the environment were not simply there to interact with a simulator; they were making decisions about future capability, with technology providing representations, information and possible future conditions to support those decisions.

IGOR’s contribution was to bring the human sciences into the architecture of that capability while also contributing directly to its design, operation and delivery. This required an understanding of complex human and organisational systems alongside the technical systems used to represent them.

What this demonstrates

IGOR can design and deliver complex strategic decision-support and experimentation capabilities in high-stakes environments, bringing together human science, systems thinking, simulation, technology, specialist expertise and international participants.

The work demonstrates IGOR’s ability to orchestrate multidisciplinary capability around complex strategic decisions, ensuring that technical systems support rather than displace human judgement and that experimentation remains focused on the decisions it is designed to support.