Hybrid Cognitive Capabilities in EDGE Operations
Authors: Norlander Arne 
Published: July 2023

Contemporary and future defense and security operations are increasingly
time-critical, resource-critical and safety-critical, requiring vigilance,
awareness and determination. Commanders and operators frequently encounter
uncertainty, risk, time-criticality and resource shortages while mastering
the challenges of distributed, complex systems, strong functional coupling
and interdependencies. Operational characteristics are highly dynamic and
non-linear; Minor events, decisions and actions may have serious and
irreversible consequences for the entire mission. This requires adaptive and
versatile principles and concepts for Emergent, Dynamic, Global and
Evolutionary operations (EDGE) operations, along with high-performance human
and technological (i.e. hybrid) cognitive capabilities.Additionally,
operating in a hazardous operational environment requires comprehensive
operational awareness - shaped, supported and utilized by human and machine
agents, in joint capabilities. Joint human-machine agents constitute hybrid
capability components, able to accurately and rapidly sense, perceive and
interpret relevant events and circumstances in order to sustain and improve
decision-making and action, enabling every commander and operator to develop
a wide-ranging appreciation of the situation. This paper is a précis of a
balanced analysis, development, evaluation and assessment of hybrid
multi-domain scenarios where the EDGE operational approach is superior
regarding managing and maintaining operational availability, versatility and
efficiency. A number of strategic capability elements will be identified and
described. The capability elements will be incorporated in a dynamic
capability architecture, operationalized into measurable evaluation
criteria, enabling hybrid cognitive capabilities to accurately and rapidly
perceive and interpret mission-relevant events and circumstances, in order
to provide the context, insight and foresight required for effective
decision-making and action. Complex Information and Cyber Operations are of
particular concern; while some operational tasks necessarily would employ a
human component, other tasks can only be accomplished through non-human
intelligent entities, acting autonomously within the socio-technical
enterprise. The Cognitive Systems body of research was utilized to overcome
the duality of traditional human-machine research, focusing on better
understanding what people actually do with technology rather than what
functions belong to the machine and what functions belong to the human. The
Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) body of research contributed with
characteristics of self-learning, emergence, and evolution among the
entities of the complex system, demonstrating heterogeneous and adaptive
behavior. According to the body of research for Autonomous Adaptive Agents
(AAAs), an agent is also viewed as a team member, meaning it is able to
autonomously complement human decision-making when executing its tasks.
Building cognitive systems and capabilities requires a mental shift –
striving towards an Agility mindset that permeates security and defense
policy, legal and financial frameworks, science and technology agendas,
strategy and operations. Adopting an EDGE perspective requires matching
internal operations with the degree of turmoil of the external environment,
a principle known as requisite variety. EDGE defines system structures
across domain boundaries and operational dimensions through an intersection
of fundamental operational dynamics: Physical, Information Cognitive and
Networks, allowing actions in one domain, ex. cognitive, to achieve an
operational effect in another, ex. physical. A conflict situation within or
with operational reach into the information and cognitive dimensions can
rapidly escalate or change character in fractions of a second, and this
requires adequate response times. This is beyond the ability of humans,
hence requiring the use of high-performance, automated cognitive
capabilities comprised of multiple, distributed human-autonomy systems.
Furthermore, without the appropriate distribution of information, and the
necessary decision rights to the AAAs that match their required level of
autonomy, the decisions and actions needed for success in MDO will not be
achieved in a timely manner.We propose formulating a future-oriented Essence
of Joint Cognitive Systems Command, with equal relevance and applicability
on human operators and artificial agents. Employing the Cognitive Systems,
CAS and AAA paradigms for MDO permits the integration of all capability
elements into an adaptive distributed system that can achieve a mission
safely and efficiently. This Essence of Command is domain agnostic and
applicable for human as well as non-human agents, although the dynamics are
different.