CMRE staff members have been recognized for outstanding quality of research for their collaboration in the NATO STO Systems Analysis and Studies (SAS) Panel.

Through their participation in the SAS-114 Research Task Group (RTG), Dr Anne-Laure Jousselme, Dr Francesca de Rosa, both of CMRE’s Data Knowledge and Operational Effectiveness (DKOE) team, and Dr Raul Vicen of the Environmental Knowledge and Effectiveness (EKOE) were recognized in the NATO STO SAS Panel Excellence Award for the outstanding quality of research conducted by the group. The team, led by Dr. David Mandel from Defence Research and Development Canada, brought together experts from Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States.

The winning activity is entitled Assessment and Communication of Uncertainty in Intelligence to Support Decision-Making. The research group made progress in quantifying and communicating to decision-makers aspects of uncertainty within the information they use. For instance, the group studied the metrics of uncertainty and information gain as well as methods to communicate the uncertainty both numerically and in natural language in order to decrease the risk of miscommunications.

Although utilizing best practices and guidance to communicate uncertainty between people is crucial, especially between operators, analysts or decision-makers at the international level, communicating uncertainty and achieving information quality between humans and machines is of paramount importance. Practices on communication of uncertainty differ from one country to another, and between military domains. A better understanding of both the human and mathematical dimensions in perceiving, representing, and communicating uncertainty would lead to improved and standardized practices within NATO.

Dr Jousselme, Dr de Rosa and Dr Vicen have contributed to the SAS-114 RTG and its initial exploratory team from 2014 to 2019, leading to 18 publications from CMRE. Special thanks to ACT/Future Solutions Branch and ACT/Innovation Branch for funding and supporting their participation in these initiatives.