An Information Model for Synergistic Decision Support

The engineering Enterprise Modeling Language (EML) provides an information-focused model that has been used to model sequences of activities to support inserting technology into a decision process. The EML model identifies the information inputs, outputs and feedback requirements from the decision process that must interface with the proposed technology [1]. Additionally, the Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM) model provides a state based problem-solving model that references the needed information cues provided by the environment to inform the decision process [2]. By integrating these two models, a comprehensive model is created that identifies the environmental cues that drive the information requirements for the decision process; a decision scenario can be captured where environmental information is identified based on the NDM model and potential technologies to support this information are included in the EML model. An example scenario is used to illustrate the use of the composite model. The resulting utility of the combined model can be evaluated by comparing it to the EML and NDM component models; the models are compared on a set of 15 criteria. The combined model benefits from the synergistic integration of both structured and experiential aspects – it captures the strengths from both component models to produce a higher fidelity, more versatile model.