It was a Knowledge War
This piece was produced using VOD: it comes in the form of a database of interview clips about the role of technology and information during the Gulf War. The viewer sets intensity levels for the theme, the viewpoints and the length. The U.S. Armyıs Chief of Staff called Desert Shield/Storm the "knowledge war", an intriguing name.The Gulf War saw what has been called the largest single communications mobilization in military history. Starting with minimal capabilities in the region, a complex set of of interconnected networks were built at high speed. Numbers may be the best way to convey the massive presence of information technologies:
· 700,000 phone calls per day
· 30 million phone calls during the air war alone
· 30,000 radio frequencies
· By the end of Desert Storms, there were more than 3,000 computers in the war zone actually linked to computers in the U.S.
To put it into perspective, 700,000 phone calls a day is the traffic of a small town. There were 500,000 soldiers involved but obviously most of them were more busy preparing to fight than communicating. It was the first major conflict in which individuals brought their laptops to the battlefield. Troops were allowed to call home free (AT&T set up the phone booths).
I became extremely interested in the topic of information and the Gulf War when I read about the impact of CNN's real-time coverage of the war, the heavy debate it triggered, the use of satellites and other information technologies by the media. But what really stimulated me was a conversation I had with Paul Strassmann whom I had previously interviewed in reference to his book, "The Business Value of Computers".
CNN's live coverage had been intensively debated in specialized magazines and books. What was original about what I had just learned was that this media phenomenon, to an extent was mirroring the way the war was being conducted by integrating information technologies. The "Information Highway" as a mass media phenomenon was just about to happen in 1991. Also it seemed to me important for all of us to become aware of the changes in warfare. If warfare is to become centered on information and if the future of terrorism is to destroy information systems, then a new mindset is required on the part of all of us:
"We are exposing the world's first information-based society, with 50 percent of the world's computing and 70 percent of its advanced software capability, to enormous dangers. This is the place where the first information Chernobyl will happen" [Paul Strassman, New York Times, July 21, 1994].
Complex systems such as battle conditions are rich in information -- information that must be acquired immediately (...) Once the specific time has passed, information loses its strategic function and importance, and at best retains only historical value. Sun-Tzu, the Art of Warfare, c. 403-221 B.C.The importance of information is not new in warfare. It was an important part of the principles taught by Sun-Tzu ("Master Sun") to the various rival families during the Warring States period in ancient China. For him knowledge is all about tracing connections, seeing changing patterns in order to predict what might happen. "To know is 'to realize', to 'make real'. The path is not given but is made in the treading of it. Thus, one's actions are always a significant factor in the shaping of one's world." This approach to knowledge encouraging action and creativity contrasts with its Greek counterpart in which knowledge is about establishing a relationship between an idea and an objective world. "One 'knows' the world not only passively in the sense of recognizing it, but also in the active shaping and 'realizing' of it".
This philosophy of knowledge goes beyond warfare and appears very up to date in our information-loaded world. The major difference between today and the Warring State period is that information technologies now enable us to gather, communicate and process information extremely efficiently. The emerging problem today is to deal with the overflow of information. The difference between Vietnam and the Gulf War is stunning. This is why the Gulf War appears as a turning point.
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Copyright 1994 - Gilberte Houbart - MIT