52. The ability to share information is a key factor for military success. As such, NATO and National Information Systems have to provide the means for information exchange in all mission types. The basic resource for all information systems is data, which, through the right interpretation, becomes information, and knowledge in turn. As NNEC is considered the core theme for C3 systems within NATO transformation, a fundamental requirement is to work in the most effective manner through semantic interoperability at the data level for NATO/national C3 systems. The expanding missions of NATO involve consultation based on the sharing of information. Alliance members and partners are engaged in collective decision-making, with each nation retaining sovereignty and responsibility for its own decisions and taking action only on the basis of unanimity. In this environment, it is critically important that the Alliance members and partners have access to all shared information at the same time and that both the consultation process and the decisions taken are adequately documented. Information modelling and information management initiatives must be formalized throughout the NATO Enterprise to leverage the collective assets of NATO and national systems in support of information operations.
53. Information management is the handling of information acquired by one or many disparate sources in a way that optimizes access by all who have a share in that information or a right to that information. Information modelling establishes a conceptual schema that defines how the managed elements in an information environment are represented as a common set of objects and relationships between them. This allows multiple parties to exchange management information about these managed elements. Additionally, it provides means to actively control and manage these elements. By using a common model of information, management software can be written once and work with many implementations of the common model without complex and costly conversion operations or loss of information.
54. Appropriate Information management will enable:
Awareness -- Products identified by metadata (keywords) and cataloged with a common schema providing a simple yet integrated query search for the right information (product);
Access -- with information tags to define privileges; and,
Delivery -- Assured delivery of the information product over the right network and to the right location.
55. This integrated approach to information modelling leverages the concepts of Net Centricity throughout all information resource providers and consumers in a coalition operation. Key components of this strategy include a dissemination capability, with associated management services, that directs end-to-end information flows throughout the NII in accordance with command policy. The NISP will contibute to the core technical model for systems designers to develop new platforms capable of the intensive compilation, cataloguing, caching, distribution, and retrieval of data necessary to provide the life cycle information management and necessary information sharing across NATO members.