NEW: SCHEDULE UPDATE: Sessions initially scheduled for Sunday afternoon will be held during the week. The first official activities are the optional dinner Sunday evening, and the opening session Mondy morning.

Overview:

Computer experimentation is integral to modern scientific research, national defense, and in public policy debates. These computer models tend to be extremely complex, with thousands of factors and many sources of uncertainty. Data farming helps researchers understand the impact of those factors and their intricate interactions on model outcomes. Data farming is the process of using computational experiments to grow data, which can then be analyzed using statistical and visualization techniques to obtain insight into complex systems. Effective data farming draws on state-of-the-art technologies including design and analysis of experiments, high-performance computing, and data mining. During the workshop, international teams of operators, subject matter experts, software developers, modelers, statisticians, and analysts will collaborate to iteratively explore a breadth of global security issues.

You should come to this workshop if you are interested in

• Taking your simulation studies to the next level;
• Gaining hands-on experience with data-farming tools and methods for model assessment and analysis;
• Exploring models of current interest for decision-makers in the defense and public policy fields;
• Sharing your methodological expertise (e.g., in design of experiments, data visualization, data mining, or high-performance computing) with others at the workshop; or
• Sharing your subject-matter expertise and enthusiasm with one or more of the teams.

The seventh meeting of the NATO Modeling and Simulation Task Group "Data Farming in Support of NATO" (MSG-088) will also occur during this event. MSG-088's mission is to assess the data farming capabilities that NATO, PfP, and Contact Countries, schools, and agencies have that could contribute to the development of improved decision support to NATO forces. As part of the Program of Work of MSG-088, scenarios in context areas where data farming methods could be used will be examined as proof-of-concept efforts to illustrate the veracity of data farming in this decision support. In order to realize the MSG-088 objective to conduct proof-of-concept explorations that demonstrate the benefits of data farming for decision support, the task group has planned two case studies: one on humanitarian assistance/disaster relief efforts, and the other on force protection. Both case study teams will be represented at the workshop, but all teams are open to all IDFW24/MSG-088 participants in order to provide even broader representation of the problem domains of interest to the international community. Sessions for other MSG-088 activities are also planned.

Nearly a score of countries have been represented in previous workshops. Whether you are a newcomer to the community or have participated in the past, we welcome your participation!

Important Dates:

Registration is now closed for non-US, non-NPS participants. If you did not yet register but are interested in attending, please contact Anjulee Herrin at arherrin@nps.edu with your request.

The workshop will be held March 25 - 30, 2012 in Monterey, California. All working sessions will be held on the NPS campus in the "New Building" near Ingersoll Hall.

A no-host bar and pre-conference dinner will be held on Sunday, March 25.

Following the opening session on Monday morning March 26, work in teams will take place Monday afternoon, March 26 through Thursday March 29, with outbriefs on Friday morning, March 30.

Teams: (click here for abstracts)

• Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief
• Force Protection of a Combat Outpost
• Enhanced Training & Education for Peace Support Operations
• Linking Ship Operational Effectiveness to Physical Ship Design
• Searching for Better Experimental Designs
• Modeling Outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth Disease

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