7.4.2. Implementing Net-Centric Data Sharing
7.4.2.1. The Roles, Responsibilities, and Relationships of the Community of Interest (COI) in Information Sharing
7.4.2. Implementing Net-Centric Data Sharing
A DoD Guide, DoD 8320.2-G, "Guidance for Implementing Net-Centric Data Sharing," April 12, 2006, stemming from the authority of DoD Directive 8320.02, " Sharing Data, Information, and Information Technology (IT) services in the Department of Defense,” March, 2013, provides implementation guidance for the community-based transformation of existing and planned information technology (IT) capabilities across the DoD. The goal of this Guide is to provide a set of activities that members of communities of interest (COIs) and associated leadership can use to implement the key policies of DoD Directive 8320.02 and ultimately increase mission effectiveness across the Department of Defense. The activities presented in this Guide may not apply to all COIs and should be tailored as necessary.
Implementation is largely achieved through activities conducted within Communities of Interests. This guidance covers some of the following key areas:
7.4.2.1. The Roles, Responsibilities, and Relationships of the Community of Interest (COI) in Information Sharing
See Chapter 2 in DoD 8320.02-G, "Guidance for Implementing Net-Centric Data Sharing," April 12, 2006.
Key COI Attributes
The DoD Chief Information Officer " DoD Net-Centric Data Strategy", May 9, 2003, defines the COI as "a collaborative group of users who must exchange information in pursuit of their shared goals, interests, missions, or business processes and who therefore must have shared vocabulary for the information they exchange." COIs are organizing constructs created to assist in implementing net-centric information sharing. Their members are responsible for making information visible, accessible, understandable, and promoting trust – all of which contribute to the data interoperability necessary for effective information sharing. This chapter describes the roles, responsibilities, and relationships of COIs in information sharing.
The focus for COIs is to gain semantic and structural agreement on shared information. For COIs to be effective, their scope—that is, the sphere of their information sharing agreements—should be as narrow as reasonable given their mission. Although the Department of Defense or a Military Department might be considered a collaborative group of users who have a shared mission, and thus a COI, achieving a shared vocabulary across the entire Department of Defense or even across a Military Department has proved to be very difficult to achieve due to the scope and magnitude of the information sharing problem space. COIs represent a mechanism for decomposing the DoD's information sharing problem space into manageable parts that can be addressed by those closest to the individual parts.
COIs may be guided by the DoD's strategic goals, existing policy, and doctrine, or COIs may form on an ad hoc basis to address a data sharing problem among known stakeholders. While DoD Component-specific COIs may exist, COIs are most likely to be functional or joint entities that cross organizational boundaries. Examples of a COI might be a meteorology COI or a joint task force COI. COIs should include producers and consumers of data, as well as developers of systems and applications.
Although COIs may vary, the key attributes (below) should be applicable for the majority of COIs across the Department of Defense.
- Formed to meet a specific data sharing mission or fulfill a task
- Composed of stakeholders cooperating on behalf of various organizations, with emphasis on cross-Component activities
- Members committed to actively sharing information in relation to their mission and/or task objectives
- Recognize potential for authorized but unanticipated users and therefore, strive to make their data visible, accessible, and understandable to those inside and outside their community
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