2006 Ccrts

This paper asks how information should flow among networked entities in NCOW. In particular, should the entities actively seek, acquire and process relevant information or should they wait to react to information that others send to them? In short, should they pull information or should they rely upon others to push information to them? In most tactical contexts, smart push will improve efficiency by orders of magnitude compared to smart pull. Our analysis reveals that efficient information processing chains require a general capability to watch for key events. Humans and the computer applications supporting them will use this capability to detect events matching conditions of interest they specify. This capability plays a key role in transforming networks into integrated value chains. Where traditional networks aim at supporting unregulated exchanges for data bit flows best suited to random access and unpredictable process sequences, the capability to delegate condition monitoring enables us to transform networks into conveyers of timely, valuable information. To maximize efficiency, we must use processes where each successive step receives just such valuable information as its input. Thus, condition monitoring and its associated smart push constitute a required foundation for the efficient process chains needed to achieve information superiority. Hayes-Roth, Two Theories: Smart Push v. Smart Pull p. 2