Investigating Hastily-Formed Collaborative Networks

This research explores both the human and technical aspects of the network centric environment in the context of a major disaster (e.g. Hurricane Katrina) or incident of national significance. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is viewed by the authors as a social network, and an organizational topology is developed to improve its effectiveness. A Rapid Network Deployment Kit (RNDK) using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) wireless networking technology is also proposed that facilitates immediate NIMS implementation. The integration of logical and technical analyses forms a comprehensive systems engineering proposal to facilitate collaboration in a net-centric environment. It is envisioned that the methodology used herein to derive and evaluate comprehensive networks proves extendable to other contexts thereby contributing to the net-centric body of knowledge.