Network-enabled capability, or NEC, is the name given to the United Kingdom
Ministry of Defence long-term intent to achieve enhanced military effect through the better use of
information systems
An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems are composed by four components: task, people ...
towards the goal of "right information, right place, right time – and not too much". NEC is envisaged as the coherent integration of
sensors
A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon.
In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...
, decision-makers, effectors and support capabilities to achieve a more flexible and responsive military. This is intended to make commanders better aware of the evolving military situation and better able to react to events through communications.
Allied parallels
NEC is related to the US concept of
network-centric warfare
Network-centric warfare, also called network-centric operations or net-centric warfare, is a military doctrine or theory of war that aims to translate an information advantage, enabled partly by information technology, into a competitive advantag ...
(NCW), which at the time was described as "translating an information advantage into a decisive warfighting advantage". This was later renamed "network-centric operations" (NCO), to encompass activities such as
peacekeeping.
NEC is related to the Australian concept of Ubiquitous Command and Control (UC2), which includes network-enabled capability,
military intent, and awareness. UC2 extends the "networking position" of NEC and NCW to include positions on decision devolution, seeking the ubiquity of available decision makers and using computing to achieve it, the necessary human-computer integration in decision making, decentralisation of intent and physical dispersion, social coordination protocols to unify intent, capability and awareness, and management levels to bound behaviours.
See also
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Networked swarming warfare
The concept of networked swarming warfare was first proposed by HUO Dajun in 2003. The key feature of the information age is the networking of organizational structure. The rising networked organization will overcome the limitation of traditional ...
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British Armed Forces
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Skynet
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Bowman
References
Joint Services Publication 777 Edition 1 available online from the Ministry of Defence.
Understanding Network Enabled CapabilityAn Introductory Study to Cyber Security in NEC
External links
BAE Systems NECRoke Manor Research NECSystems Engineering & Assessment NECThales group NECEricsson white paper: C4ISR for Network-Oriented DefenseCentric Labs
Net-centric
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