The Sustainable Management of Civil Infrastructure: A Methodology and Testbed to Bridge Information Technology and Application

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9422730 Lu This award is made in support of the NSF initiative ENG-CISE-IITA94, National Challenges. It is a joint initiative between the Engineering Directorate and the Computer Information and Engineering Directorate. Civil infrastructure systems are large, complex, heterogeneous, distributed, dynamic systems that affect, and are affected by, technological, environmental, social, political, and economic factors. Examples include communication systems, roads, bridges, and the distribution of water, gas and electricity. The life cycle of such systems includes design, construction, operation, maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, and disposal. Throughout these phases, coordination among distributed, diverse groups of experts is required to yield efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable practices and outcomes. To meet these challenges, successful information technology applications must address issues that are both technical (the design and implementation of information technology) and social (involving consideration of human problem solving, work practices, communication, and organizational structures). The solution addressed here is the Team Engineering Analysis and Modeling methodology for design and application of information technology in organizations, and the integration and extension of previous work in information infrastructure; including the System Workbench for Integrating and Facilitating Teams (SWIFT), Agent Collaboration Environment (ACE), and engineering management systems developed by the U. S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL). This army laboratory has developed ACE and a suite of software applications related to the design and management of civil infrastructure in a military context. These existing software systems provide a significant base for the development of the propoqed information infrastructure technology. The team engineering methodology focuses on the modeling of activity and communication within human teams, in the context of avail able media, technology, and organizational structures; and the evolving interrelationships between technological possibilities and communicative and work practices. This project applies this methodology to the specific case of the sustainable management of the gas pipeline and road systems of Fort Gordon, Georgia, which is designated by the Army as a "Model Installation" for the 21st century and is thus committed to the use of advanced information technology. This "controlled" environment provides an outstanding opportunity to conduct experiments in the application of information technology to the problems of the sustainable management of civil infrastructure. The objective of this project is to support the sustainable management of civil infrastructure via (1) a methodology for team engineering -- both the study of work practices, problem solving, coordination, and use of technology in an organization, and the deployment and management of new technological infrastructure; (2) the integration and further development of advanced information technology to support team decision making and information sharing; and (3) the application and demonstration of this deployment methodology and information technology to the civil infrastructure system at Fort Gordon, Georgia. This project contributes to (1) fundamental knowledge of human coordination and interaction with technology in complex systems, (2) a paradigm of information infrastructure design and deployment applicable to other large-scale complex systems, and (3) the practical application of this methodology and technology to an issue of National importance, namely the sustainable management of civil infrastructure.