Info overload a problem for US military

There were solid reports that the group included children,but the team did not adequately focus on them amid the swirl of data much like a cubicle worker who loses track of an important e-mail under the mounting pile. The team was under intense pressure to protect US forces nearby,and in the end it determined,incorrectly,that the villagers convoy posed an imminent threat,resulting in one of the worst losses of civilian lives in the war in Afghanistan.

Information overload an accurate description, said one military officer,who was briefed on the inquiry and spoke on condition of anonymity. The deaths would have been prevented,he said.

Data is among the most potent weapons of the 21st century. Unprecedented amounts of raw information help the military determine what targets to hit and what to avoid. And drone-based sensors have given rise to a new class of wired warriors who must filter the information sea. But sometimes they are drowning.

Research shows that the kind of intense multitasking required in such situations can make it hard to tell good information from bad. The military faces a balancing act: how to help soldiers exploit masses of data without succumbing to overload.

Across the military,the data flow has surged; since the attacks of 9/11,the amount of intelligence gathered by remotely piloted drones and other surveillance technologies has risen 1,600 per cent.