ARMY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING DELIVERY SYSTEM (KMTDS)

ARMY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING DELIVERY SYSTEM

(KMTDS)

24 Oct 2011 Military College of Telecommunication Engineering 1

Brigadier Amarjit Singh

BACKGROUND• Operational Pull

– Network Centric Operations - D– E-Learning AND Distance Learning – M/L (e-psc, SOATE)– Search and access content – I/L (e-libraries)– Collaborative, hybrid learning environment – I/L– Testing and certification – M/I/L (Part B/D, Rtg, Arms/Services, Self Certification)– Multimedia rich (rich services as enabler) – M/I/L– Ubiquitous (wireless as key enabler) – I/L– Minimize management issues – M (Cadre, Value)– Benchmark against national centres of excellence – M/I/L– Policies – MIS, IT Training - M

• Technology Push– Networks – bandwidth, rich services

• National Knowledge Network (NKN)• Army NGN – KRANTI

– Next Generation Computing – SOA, Cloud– Learning Frameworks – Closed, Open, Collaborative, Crowd Sourcing


HORIZONTALLY INTEGRATED NETWORK

NGN : ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW

NATIONAL KNOWLEDGE NETWORK• Encourage collaboration and the creation of new

national intellectual assets, enabling the sharing of high-performance computing facilities, e-libraries, virtual classrooms

• Includes ERNET, executed by NIC• Next Generation Network (NGN)

– Three layers – Core, Distribution, Edge– Backbone - 18 Core Points of Presence (PoPs), 25 Distribution

PoPs– Architecture and capabilities similar to Project KRANTI

(Network for Spectrum, NFS) network


NKN TOPOLOGY


CONCEPT: NKN CONNECTIVITY


NKNBSNL

CME

MCTE

MCEME

UNIV AUNIV B

B1A2

B2

A1

VPNoBB1 GB100 Mbps Min

VC

VC

VC

VC

VC

BACKGROUND: ARTRAC/MCTE• MCTE Trg Insp – Mar 11• Concept Paper – Apr 11• Army Trg Conf – May 11, CME Pune• Industry Interaction – May-Jun 11 (TCS, Wipro)• NKN Connectivity – Jun 11• Feasibility Report – Jun 11• Analysis of Architecture Options• Detailed Architecture – CISCO• Budgeting and MOLTI proposal• Draft Orders for NKN connectivity• Proposal to DG Info Sys


PREVIEW• Training Environment and Imperatives• Technology Enabled Training Transformation• Vision - Army Training Information Systems• Architecture - Proposed Army KMTDS• Decision Issues/Recommendations


TRAINING ENVIRONMENT AND IMPERATIVES


TRAINING ENVIRONMENT• Field Army training facilities

– Inadequately connected, enjoy potentially good civil network connectivity– Operational network selectively exploited

• Dissemination from Army level establishments • Conduct of online examinations

– Limited availability of comprehensive security policies and services pertaining to training methodologies and content

• Army Centres of Excellence– Strong capabilities in their respective fields– Limited flexibility in terms of rapid increase or decrease of training loads– No integrated shared information or training content development systems– Training capability not shared with field Army on continuous basis


TRAINING IMPERATIVES• Training within existing manpower resources• Physical presence of trainees at training institutions to be capped• Training infrastructure be scalable at short notice• Personnel of the field Army to undergo continuous training; be

able to do it in a self paced manner• Trainees to access training resources distributed over multiple

locations almost concurrently• Training system to become network centric before field Army• Interaction of trainees with training system be captured,

preserved and suitably structured to improve institutional knowledge

• Adherence to standards - remove methodological barriers between training environments


TECHNOLOGY ENABLED TRAINING TRANSFORMATION

• Connectivity• Convergence• Consolidation and Virtualization• Collaboration• Possibilities

– Increase access to knowledge– Provide closer trainee-trainer interaction


VISION: ARMY TRAINING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

• Tools for conceptual leadership and coherence to human resource development efforts of the Army

• Synergy in training content generation, exploitation and delivery

• Integration of the training establishments, including training centres

• Economy and effectiveness• Build the Army Learning Community


KMTDS ARCHITECTURE


SERVICE ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE

EXAM LEARNING CONTENT KNOWLEDGE CONTENT

LEARNING SERVICE CONTENT SERVICE

SERVER CONSOLIDATION

NETWORK SERVICES

NETWORK

LDAPDHCPDNS

LEASED LINEARMY LEASED VPN INTERNET VPN

FRAMEWORK FOR SOFTWARE SERVICES IN A TECHNOLOGY EMPOWERED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT


Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by TechnologyNational Educational Technology Plan 2010, Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education

KMTDS CONCEPT


CORE

KMS

NMS

RMS

LMS

KMS

NMS

RMS

LMS

KMS

NMS

RMS

LMS

DISTRIBUTION LAYER

EDGE LAYER

KMTDS CONCEPT• High performance, high speed CORE connecting selected centres of excellence

– Provide centrally managed and physically distributed Learning Management (LM ) and Knowledge Management (KM) services

– Virtualized data centre capabilities for LM and KM data storage and related web applications

• Network Management (NM) system - uniform set of network management services - Identity, Authentication, Authorization, Security

• Federated Resource Management (RM) system - tools and information necessary for allocation and monitoring of resources and provision of administrative support to training

• DISTRIBUTION LAYER– To cover remaining institutions under ARTRAC– Able to use LM and KM services delivered from within the core to build effective LM

and KM solutions in a short time without requiring too many physical resources, except for reliable connectivity to Core

• EDGE LAYER– Users, field Army and training centres


TRAINING PERSPECTIVE• Fully integrated, harmonized learning environment

– Focus on content of training– Management of training infrastructure by lean organization with

specialized capabilities to build, evolve and support technical platforms on a continuous basis

– High availability

• Trainees perspective– Assist in engaging with training system and faculty on a continuous basis– Able to acquire training without physically attending programs at Army

training establishments– Ability to acquire functional certification and promotion qualifications on

an ‘on demand’ schedule


TRAINING PERSPECTIVE• Trainer perspective

– At training institutions - ability to track progress of trainees on a continuous basis.

– Field Army – back end support as good as training institutions

• Management– Automated environment for staff– Plan on and offer facilities for collaborative and virtual class rooms– These would be structured over multiple locations, permitting multi-

disciplinary content and study– Army wide class rooms enable delivery of training directly from training

institutions to field Army– Self paced and self structured courses available for trainees who volunteer


ANALOGY: NCREN


DISTRIBUTION NODE

LAN/MANCORE NODE

ANALOGY: NCREN• Learn & Earn Online - Online college credit courses offered by UNCG iSchool

and the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) Online Learning• ClassScape - Online formative assessment system• NCTest - North Carolina online End-of-Course tests• NCDesk - North Carolina online test of computer skills• NCWise - Student information management system• LearnNC - Lesson plans and teaching strategies, classroom text & multimedia,

and online courses for teachers and students from the UNC School of Education

• NCREN Video Conferencing Services - H.323 video conferencing, satellite uplinking and downlinking, and live and stored video streaming services for the K-20 community


SECURITY AND CONNECTIVITY - FACTORS• Utilization of operational network for training always constrained

– Limited resources– Under specified security model

• Overwhelming proportion of training content classified RESTRICTED or less, large volume can be declassified

• High security requirements of LM system– Pertain essentially to evaluation of trainees and conduct of examinations

or certifications– Readily available and in use technologies can help achieve necessary levels

of security

• Connectivity with Internet - essential condition of effectiveness of LM and KM systems

• Connectivity with NKN - important requirement of future effectiveness of training system

02 May 2011 Military College of Telecommunication Engineering 24

END TO END SECURITY MODEL: X.805


SECURITY: LOGICAL TRANSPORT


CME/MCTE/MCEME

TRG CENTRE/HRDC

OFFICIAL PREMISES

HOME

TLS VPN

TLS VPN

TLS VPN

TLS VPN

TLS VPN

SECURITY AND CONNECTIVITY - APPROACH• KMTDS must connect to NKN, and to Internet• KMTDS will not connect with Operational Network • Core and Distribution layers can be built using exclusively engineered bandwidth

(including physical network) OR leased bandwidth OR NKN bandwidth OR VPN connectivity over Internet

• Leased bandwidth may be obtained also from Operational Network where such capacity exists

• Connectivity to the training centres of field Army can be arranged by field Army itself using Internet VPNs OR BSNL VPNoBB OR Enterprise VPNs

• A policy framework to classify training information as distinct from operational information

• Use of multi-layered security architecture– Transport Layer – Layer 2 encryption PLUS IPSsec VPN PLUS Admission Control– Services Layer – Identity and Access Management (IAM) PLUS TLS VPN– Application Services – Application Security INCLUDING Identity, Authorization,

Encryption…– Users – Physical measures


DEPLOYMENT APPROACH• Initial design based on mature industry standard solutions -

completed through a process of outsourcing• Effort to concurrently provide connectivity to the NKN for selected

Category A establishments that would be key nodes of Core• Utilize NKN to provide for connectivity between Core and

Distribution nodes • Deployment phasing

– Technologically and organizationally equipped Category A establishments first connected as part of the Core and the centrally managed LM, KM, RM and NM components deployed

– Next phase• Establishments located close to Core nodes added to Distribution layer along

with their own Edge environments• Prominent formation HQ concurrently connected to appropriate Distribution

nodes


RESPONSIBILITIES AND DEPLOYMENT PLAN• ARTRAC and DGMT – organizing connectivity to NKN

– Initial bid by MCTE via DGMT successful– Additional bids due

• MCTE - Architecture and design• Core systems

– Integrated infrastructure deployed initially at CME, MCEME, MCTE, Delhi(?)– Procurement as an Enterprise Networking Research and Training System through

MOLTI or IT Grant

• Next phase– All institutions located in and around Mhow, Secunderabad and Pune added to

Distribution layer - distribution nodes may be added as part of normal IT infrastructure or via MOLTI route

– Core nodes added at Delhi, Bengaluru, ……….

• Edge environment– Access VPNs – IT Grant– LANs and wireless access points - procured by institutions and formations through normal IT

channels


FEASIBILITY REPORT


CURRENT E-LEARNING POLICY• DGMT (MT-10) letter No A/63102/GS/MT-10 dt 10 Aug 05• Army HQ letter No B/04009/3rd/AITAB/DDG IT (T&P) dt 30 Jun 07• HQ ARTRAC letter No 915098/Trg (JT&P) dt 05 May 08• HQ ARTRAC letter No 985103/e-Learning/IT dt 05 Jul 10• HQ Army AD College letter No 3462/38/EL/G/Trg dt 14 Aug 10• Army HQ letter No 1603/ASDC/SDG/BIA dt 23 Sep 10• HQ ARTRAC letter No 985103/e-Learning/IT dt 29 Sep 10• Army HQ letter No B/05354/Conf/IT/Info Sys dt 13 Oct 10


CURRENT E-LEARNING POLICY• The existing policy envisages e-learning as an aid enabling

students to assimilate the contents better and will not replace the traditional methods of teaching

• Devp of e-learning sys will follow the following phs– Conversion of selected course material into electronic form– Web-based training in a networked environment on availability of

communications infrastructure– Completely interactive class rooms

• All content should be SCORM compliant. All unstructured content should be converted to structured, SCORM complaint content

• In the initial period, each Cat A establishment to host only UNCLASSIFIED content on Army Intranet using freeware LMS such as MOODLE


CURRENT E-LEARNING POLICY• Preferred that all Cat A establishments should have the same LMS

at each location so that inter-workability problems do not arise at a later date. Commonality and standardization is of prime importance as it will ensure easy portability of content from one Cat A establishment to other, till the time a central LMS is extended to all Cat A establishments

• Cat A establishments need to formulate content with a view that it has to be extended later to trainees not attending training programs at Cat A establishments. Campus LAN infrastructure should allow for further dissemination of e-learning once it is connected to Army Training Network or suitable link for increasing its reach


CURRENT E-LEARNING POLICY• Interoperability / sharing of content between Cat A establishments will ensure

wider proliferation of e-learning; content will be available to units and formation for cadre who otherwise remain devoid of formal / institutionalized training. Final objective to be achieved - lessons be run in e-classrooms directly from Portal of any Cat A establishment once all Cat A establishments linked on Army Training Network. Direct connectivity from field formations to Cat A establishments to access e-learning resources will benefit the field Army immensely

• IT Training Policy 2010 has been issued with the aim of transforming IA into a network centric force. Availability of bandwidth over Army Intranet remains a concern till 2013. Encryption (for security) is available from comcen to comcen but not up to users

• Most of the material is in open domain and foreign officers attending the courses have access to it. DCOAS (IS&T) has directed that the training material be evaluated from security point of view and necessary steps be taken to downgrade its classification


CURRENT E-LEARNING POLICY• E-learning progress is necessary not only to improve the training

curriculum in training establishments but also to reduce the duration of contact phase of training

• Necessary to develop the corresponding infrastructure to cater for future and a benchmark model of end state. Efforts should be made to procure copy of a successful e-learning model in the country or abroad. Option of having two different types of content based on security classification needs to be explored; UNCLASSIFIED content can be hosted on open domain and classified content on Army Intranet


ADDITIONAL ISSUES• Online Public Domain Content

– Online electronic libraries and journals can only be met through a KMTDS like system. “Pulling” all such content from the public domain on to the Army Intranet not viable

– Review plans for sharing of content of Army libraries over the Army Intranet

• Two Tier Networks– All advanced armies have two networks - one restricted network for secure military

usage and a public network enabling gateway based access to the Internet / other network. For example, SIPRNET, NIPRNET

– Army KMTDS provides the second public tier and is, appropriately, focused on training delivery

• Perceived Requirement Vs Implementation Strategy– Network centric aspirations and aspirations for delivery of training to the field Army

expressed in existing e-learning policy. Need for standardization and linkage across training establishments expressed. Both not adequately planned for

– KMTDS ensures both network centric capabilities and standardization, leaving the majority of establishments and training cadre free to focus on content development


ADDITIONAL ISSUES• KMTDS as Intranet, As Part of NKN Intranet or Internet

– Either option possible, each with its benefits / constraints– These issues applicable only to the Network sub-layer of the KMTDS layer– Learning Services layer would have to be developed as an Army wide service in

either case– Entire KMTDS can be moved to the Army’s network (only the network sub-layer

changes) as and when portions of the Army Intranet become available for heavy usage post 2013

– KMTDS helps in early development of a network enabled training delivery system ; does not detract from ongoing content development efforts. Use of Army Intranet for delivery of classified content can be pursued concurrently

• Software Architecture– KMTDS envisages a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) in consonance with current

technological best practice– By separating content from Learning (as well as Network) Services, portability of

content is ensured and being tied down to a monolithic learning environment developed by any specific vendor is explicitly avoided


ADDITIONAL ISSUES• Security

– Training requirements, particularly e-learning at Cat A establishments, demand connectivity and collaboration between instructors, students and the Learning Environment from residences and other non-class room locations within the campus. Use of wireless access is also desired

– Extension of Army Intranet based learning environment to residences, also hosting personnel not subject to military discipline, carries obvious security risks that cannot be discounted. May actually require roll back of certain kinds of connectivity existing in certain campuses

– KMTDS does not suffer from such risks. Instead, enables full use of wireless, reducing wired infrastructure requirements


POC CONFIGURATION: KMTDS LITE

PUNE

MHOW

DELHI

SECUNDERABAD

CORE

CORE CORE

DISTR

HQ ARTRAC

SHIMLA

CLASSES/EXAM

DELHI

INTERNET

INTERNET

INTERNET

CLASSES/EXAM CLASSES/EXAM

CLASSES/EXAM

PROG: NKN CONNECTIVITY• Contracts for connectivity for CME Pune and

MCEME (PGCIL) issued• Tech feasibility for Mhow given to PIU NKN by

RAILTEL• Bid for 10-12 addl institutions being made by HQ

ARTRAC


DECISION ISSUES


DECISION ISSUES• Services model• Computing model• Application services• Networks• Security• Development• Procurement• Organization• Orders


OTHER PAYOFFS• Monitored access to Internet• Integration

– Joint Services institutions – DSSC, IDS, NDA– INDU– Air Force, Navy, IDS

• Integration with commercial wireless networks• Backup network – strategic reach• Access to international high capacity networks

through NKN• Security by learning, not by self-denial


CONCLUSION• Strategic move - IT as a tool for achieving transformation of the training

system• Test bed for development of network centric capabilities - entire Army • Radical departure from past practice of attempting to build a training

environment on top of the existing operational network• Mature rapidly as true Army knowledge repository with an ability to

draw with confidence from national and international knowledge repositories

• Enable Army training system to benchmark itself against corresponding academic institutions in civilian domain - establish credentials of Army and its personnel as valuable human resource

• Enable optimal exploitation of Army knowledge base by field Army and provide all personnel with avenues for self growth and certification

• Enable Army to plan and utilize training resources in an optimal and effective manner24 Oct 2011 Military College of Telecommunication Engineering 44

EXAMPLE OPEN LEARNING ENVIRONMENT








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ARMY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING DELIVERY SYSTEM (KMTDS)