ITF | Information Technology for Command & Control Systems

The department develops architectures and interoperability solutions for distributed C2 and decision support systems. Its mission is the research and development of innovative solutions in the fields network centric warfare and business intelligence. The general aim is to support decision processes that are characterized by

concurrent, dislocated and heterogeneous stakeholders who all claim for limited resources,

a vital cooperation in a complex and vague environment where trust cannot be ensured,

the need for a rapid analysis and assessment of the situation,

decisions with high impact but a vague information situation,

unpredictable external events that enforce a permanent adaption of plans and measures,

conflicts between project and line organization,

and many heterogeneous and semantical not interoperable IT-Systems.

Customers are the Bundeswehr, civil security authorities, organizations and companies that are responsible or operate complex and significantly important infrastructures.

The department's technological competence and expertise center on two key areas arising from the networking of forces and their systems: ensuring semantic and pragmatic interoperability of information exchange and developing architectures that support the required networking itself and the consistency of the information exchange. Information analysis studies round out the spectrum.

Architecture of distributed command information systems

The research group approaches the topic of »architecture« from a technical and a methodological perspective. Its technical focus is on the development of architectures, testbeds and solutions for distributed tactical command and control systems. Its methodological focus is on the development of concepts and intelligent software tools for enterprise architectures in order to support project managers and administrative departments in the performance of their tasks.

Interoperability and testing

The Interoperability and Testing research group develops solutions for the exchange of information between heterogeneous systems. The goal is more flexible, efficient and robust process support. The group develops concepts and prototypes based on state-of-the-art technologies. The research group advises on migration to new standards, integration of legacy systems and product selection. Its equipment and reference systems enable independent, reproducible tests and build a combined physical and virtual Battle-Lab.

Information Analysis

The Information Analysis research group develops solutions for the automated analysis and exploitation of text documents, including social media posts. Their mission is the timely and demand-driven evaluation of information as a basis for decision-making in the context of civil and military operations. Natural Language Processing, Deep Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence methods are applied to (e.g.) translate languages, identify Fake News and Propaganda in Social Media or automatically generate texts.

Collaboration processes

The Collaboration Processes research group examines solution concepts for the optimization of workflows in complex command processes. The aim is to develop methods for improving situational awareness at all levels of command support. In pursuit of this aim, prototypical solution concepts for different application domains are developed and evaluated in empirical studies as well as in the context of military exercises and missions. Ergonomically optimized IT-services were embedded in harmonized and company-wide and overarching work flows.

Systems for situational awareness

The Systems for Situational Awareness research group develops systems for situational awareness and decision support in complex environments. Core issues include the acquisition, harmonization and aggregation of relevant information (actionable information) for well-informed decision making and the targeted support of decision implementation. The goal of the research group is to ensure effective and efficient processes in security-critical environments and the provision of situational awareness by means of intuitive information representations.

More than 60 scientists and technicians working in a scientific environment use the latest technologies in outstandingly equipped laboratories and work areas. The close and diverse cooperation with international universities and scientific institutions, involvement in important communities and participation in relevant committees at national and international levels demonstrate scientific expertise on an equal footing with other top research institutions.

Official bodies 

• IST-Panel Chair - NATO Science & Technology Organization: Information Systems and Technology Panel
• NGVA - NATO Generic Vehicle Architectrue
• MIP - Multilateral Interoperability Programme
• DM CaT - C3B/ Data Management CaT
• CWIX 2016 - Coalition Warrior Interoperability eXploration, eXperimentation, eXamination eXercise (CWIX)
• AFCEA Bonn e.V. (executive board)