This page gives a concise overview of the formal workpackages of the Combined Systems project. More detailed descriptions of the workpackages are given in the Workpackage Overview documents that are available in the Deliverables section.

WP 1 - Architecture

The Architecture workpackage addresses overal architectual issues related to desired system qualities and properties of Combined Systems. These qualities and properties include:

• distributed intelligence, sensing, decision and action
• usability aspects in open, chaotic environments
• dynamic knowledge maintenance in distributed environments
• information sharing and filtering at various oranizationa levels
• fault tolerance and automatic dynamic system configuration 
• consistency, security, safety and timeliness of information
• syntactic and semantic interoperability

WP 2 - Worldmodeling and Representation of Information and Interactions

Crisis management systems must be able to reason and exchange information about different aspects of the world. Information may come from humans, sensors or databases. Fusion of such diverse information requires adequate knowledge, which is represented in (shared) world models at all levels of he system. Development of shared world models requires substantial cooperation and consensus at different levels. This workpackage studies methods for the extraction and fusion of usefull information from a variety of sources.

WP 3 - Escalation

Escalation occurs if an organization is no longer capable of controlling a certain situation, and thus needs to adjust itself to regain control. Escalation management is the process of monitoring the situation, assessing the capability of the current organization to control the situation, and, if required, altering the organization to regain control. This workpackage explores important aspects that play a role in escalating situations, and looks at mechanisms that may assist organizations to prevent escalation.

WP 4 - Human Computer Symbiosis

The interaction between men and system, or rather the symbiosis between men and machine, supports users to build up an adequate world model for their task given the information in the system. In the end man makes the decision, but software agents can provide situational awareness and decision support. Systems support humans, but the reverse is also true, as humans are a type of sensors making observations and add information to the system. Both types of interaction are an important subject in the work package.

WP 5 - Layers of Communication

Within Layers of Communication the main research topic involves exploring mechanisms that are capable of dynamically (re-)assigning tasks, responsibilities and authorities to the agents in the system. The mechanisms are required to fine-tune the systems configuration with respect to the current and (projected) future situation, thereby enabling the system to adapt to the dynamics of the situation, it’s own status and mission in a pragmatic fashion.

WP 6 - Prototype Demonstrator

The ideas and concepts that are explored in the various workpackages are put into the context of a common scenario. The goal is to illustrate their interrelations and added value in a realistic real-world case. Within the workpackage Prototype Demonstrator this scenario is defined. Also mock-ups, prototypes and demonstrators are developed to evaluate algorithms, illustrate concepts and demonstrate applicability of technology.