A database of Adversary Decision Makers

Abstract

Advances in database and decision technologies provide abundant opportunities for implementing decision support systems for Information Operations specialists. This thesis describes, designs, and partially implements a system that provides information about adversary decision makers and the media they access. The Adversary Decision Maker Systems (ADMS) consists of a relational database and associated user interface of forms and reports, implemented in Microsoft Access. The database design and development process is elaborated in detail, database administration guidelines are documented, and a migration path is presented for incorporating relevant decision support tools to augment the database. A decision support system, the Situational Influence Assessment Module (SIAM), which is based upon influence diagrams and belief networks, is used to demonstrate how the database and decision technologies can be integrated. The ADMS developed in this thesis meets the requirements of USPACOM, yet is general enough to be used for any theater commander's Area of Responsibility (AOR)