The Advancement of Positioning Technologies in Defense Intelligence

Abstract

The adoption of positioning technologies to supplement, complement and function as defense intelligence applications has become widely accepted within homeland security and military circles. At the core of advancement are four main positioning technologies: the global positioning system (GPS), second generation (2G) and beyond mobile telephone networks (including wireless data networks), radio-frequency identification (RFID) and geographic information systems (GIS). For all positioning technologies, both separately and when combined, it is of primary importance to their continued adoption that the controlling powers have an in-depth understanding of the causality between implementation, usage and flow-on effect. This relies on an alignment of defense strategy, knowledge systems, security requirements and citizen rights within the broader social context. This social context must respond to continuing security breaches, advancements in technology and the ever-changing face of bureaucracy. There is, however, great difficulty in creating an uncompromising foundation for homeland security, which is at all times both void of complexity and suitable to all. Even more difficult, though, is to predict both the events and consequences that will herald from the systems now being created.