Collaboration in defence – Heightened interoperability through innovation

Communication is key, and we live and breathe it in our technology, and it’s been a part of Roke’s DNA since our founding. We, and our partners, know that communications are a crucial part of the battlespace. For HQ’s, accuracy and understanding communications is critical in the decision-making process. AI and automation are key in being able to ensure that the right data from the right place gets to the right person – all in a way that is easy to understand.

The human factor continues to be incredibly important across even the most advanced tools. That presence of the human on the loop is also critical in ensuring that decisions are made ethically and legally. Technology can complicate the battlespace, but it also has the potential to help simplify information that will allow actors to make those decisions. Across partners, however, it may be different.

Operating across nations is already a challenge that goes beyond language and ways of working. Differing technologies also play a role – especially as modern hardware needs to work seamlessly with legacy systems and platforms. Matching capabilities and ability to parse through data to ensure the right data makes it to the right people is difficult. Consider the ICSHINE24 event hosted by the NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (NATO STO-CMRE), where underwater, surface, land, and air platforms from diverse partners all produce data – that’s a lot of outputs. Without software architectures that can handle AI and machine learning (ML) tools to help parse through that data, the obstacles in understanding what all that data means remain difficult to overcome.

It's here that development between nations, between governments, and between industry can really make a mark. If you can combine all of those alongside research institutions, then you have a potent mix of diversity of thought and expertise. Contracted by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratories (Dstl), our collaboration with consultancy Frazer-Nash, and the University of Liverpool came together to create something that takes diversity of input from autonomous and human systems ensuring that data outputs are centrally understood.

All this said and done, true interoperability is whether or not agreements and policies are in place as to whether data can be shared. This is already a challenge within one nation, however where there are multiple nations, agreements need to be formed that are operation specific. 

Who can sift through what can be shared and not that quickly? By integrating tools that are based on AI and ML algorithms, meta-data within data can be tagged on the fly, due to predetermined sets of parameters – these cognitive burdens of what to share and what not to can be taken away freeing up time and money to dedicate to lethality and survivability. When combined with the vast troves of data that open-source intelligence provides, the presence of an AI/ML tool becomes even more important.

Data, AI, and ML is all going to increase in value and use in the coming years whether we like it or not. For our partners it is going to mean easier cooperation as demonstrated at NATO ICSHINE24. It's all this and more that makes Roke’s expertise and experience valuable to the partners that we work with across defence and enterprise. If this sounds like it would be something that you could use to help your decision makers be more effective, with cognitive power being diverted to other important areas, we would love to talk.

Contact us here, and read more about our Information Advantage team and offerings here.