Command Post of the Future The United States Army ' s Command Post of the Future ( CPOF ) is a C2 software system that allows commanders to maintain topsight over the battlefield ; collaborate with superiors , peers and subordinates over live data ; and communicate their intent . Originally a DARPA technology demonstration , in 2006 CPOF became an Army Program of Record . It is managed by the Product Manager Tactical Mission Command at Aberdeen Proving Grounds , Maryland , and integrated with the Army ' s Maneuver Control System and other products . The prime contractor on the CPOF program is General Dynamics C4 Systems , which purchased the original developer of the software ( MAYA Viz Ltd ) in 2005 . Overview . CPOF began as a DARPA investigation to improve command and control using networked information visualization systems , with the goal of doubling the speed and quality of command decisions . The system was developed in a research setting by Global Infotek , Inc . ; ISX Corporation ( now part of Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories ) ; Oculus Info , Inc . ; SYS Technologies , Inc . ; and MAYA Viz ( now part of General Dynamics C4 Systems ) with the active participation of military personnel as subject matter experts . CPOF is one of several examples of collaborative software , but intended specifically for use in a Command and Control capacity . A shared workspace is the main interface , in which every interface element in CPOF is a shared piece of data in a networked repository . Shared visual elements in CPOF include iconic representations of hard data , such as units , events , and tasks ; visualization frameworks such as maps or schedule charts on which those icons appear ; and brush - marks , ink - strokes , highlighting , notes and other annotation . All visual elements in CPOF are interactive via drag - and - drop gestures . Users can drag data - elements and annotation from any visualization framework into any other ( i . e . , from a chart to a table ) , which reveal different data - attributes in context depending on the visualization used . Most data - elements can be grouped and nested via drag - and - drop to form associations that remain with the data in all of its views . Drag - and - drop composition on live visualizations is CPOF ' s primary mechanism for editing data values , such as locations on a map or tasks on a schedule ( for example , moving an event - icon on a map changes the lat / lon values of that event in the shared repository ; moving a task icon on a schedule changes its time - based values in the shared repository ) . The results of editing gestures are conveyed in real - time to all observers and users of a visualization ; when one user moves an event on a map , for example , that event - icon moves on all maps and shared views , such that all users see its new location immediately . Data inputs from warfighters are conveyed to all collaborators as the " natural " result of a drop - gesture in - situ , requiring no explicit publishing mechanism . CPOF is also used as a live - data alternative to PowerPoint briefings . During a CPOF briefing , commanders can drill into any data element in a high - level view to see details on demand , and view outliers or other elements of interest in different visual contexts without switching applications . Annotations and editing - gestures made during briefings become part of the shared repository . The commander ' s topsight is based on ground - truth at the moment of the briefing ; the commander can then communicate intent on live data . CPOF users at any level can assemble workspaces out of smaller tool - and - appliance primitives , allowing members of a collaborating group to organize their workflows according to their needs , without affecting or disrupting the views of other users . CPOF ' s Tool - and - appliance primitives are designed to let users create quick , throw - away mini - applications to meet their needs in - situ , supporting on - the - fly uses of the software that no developer or designer could have anticipated . The CPOF software is based on the CoMotion platform , a proprietary commercial framework for building collaborative information visualization systems and domain - independent " decision communities " . CoMotion ' s design principles originated as a research program at Carnegie Mellon University led by Steven Roth , and was subsequently developed at MAYA Viz Ltd and General Dynamics C4 Systems . Operational Details . CPOF uses a proprietary navigational style database based on U - form s to store , represent , and operate upon a wide variety of types of data . CPOF can receive real - time or near - real - time data from a variety of standard sources — such as GCCS - A , C2PC , and ABCS — and display them using MIL - STD - 2525B symbols on maps and charts . Plans , schedules , notes , briefings , and other battle - related information can be composed and shared between warfighters . All maps , charts , pasteboards , and other work products can be marked up with permanent and / or fading ink , and annotated with text or " stickies " to provide further context . A VOIP solution is included , although it can integrate with a pre - existing voice solution . Fault tolerance for low bandwidth , high latency , and / or error - prone TCP / IP networks is supported by CPOF ' s multi - tiered client - server architecture . It can thus be deployed on systems from a two - hop geosynchronous satellite link to a radio network such as JNN while remaining collaborative . The software is largely Java - based , but is only currently deployed on a Microsoft Windows platform . Deployment . CPOF was first deployed operationally in a handful of locations in Baghdad , Iraq by the 1st Cavalry Division of the US Army in 2004 , and was subsequently deployed throughout Iraq and Afghanistan and used by coalition forces . Variants of CPOF have participated in United States Joint Forces Command ' s Urban Resolve 2015 , the United States Air Force ' s Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 06 and 08 , and has been in use by the Marines in Combat Operation Centers since 2007 . CPOF became an official US Army program of record in 2006 .