Data Inaccuracy in the Global Transportation Network

Desert Shield/Storm refocused the need for the Department of Defense to develop an effective Total Asset Visibility (TAV) plan. As part of that plan, USTRANSCOM was given the responsibility for the in-transit visibility (ITV) portion. To meet the goal of ITV, USTRANSCOM has developed the Global Transportation Network (GTN).The GTN system is very dependent on accurate data. In the past, GTN has been plagued with inaccurate or incomplete data. The purpose of this paper is to explore, through a variety of literature sources, possible causes for data inaccuracy in the GTN system. The Ishikawa fishbone diagram is the method used to propose possible cause-effect relationships among the important factors that affect data accuracy in the GTN system. Human factors, communication factors, and data standardization factors are identified as the main emphasis of this study.