Date: Oct 16, 2013 Source: SBIR.gov (
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Mobile forces require a means of collecting and transmitting cultural information, intelligence and other data. One approach to fill this need is to develop software for mobile computers that would use a wikitype server to interface with existing analytical tools and databases. This will enable warfighters to record information about people, groups, and events and combine the data with other sources to support a wide range of uses. In support of this need, Anacapa Sciences, Inc. has developed the Cultural Depot which, provides a resource for mobile, forward-deployed and garrisoned Military Information Support Operations (MISO) personnel and others to collect, process, and distribute information about individuals and groups who inhabit an area of operation, and about that area's cultural, historical, economic, and political conditions. The system also facilitates quick access to and sharing of that knowledge. The system presents information in fifteen categories, including the Political, Military, Economic, Social, Infrastructure and Information (PMESII) categories and at four geopolitical levels (Country, Province, District, and Community), which allows users to drill down to the relevant information. The innovation of the Cultural Depot is that it enables users with firsthand knowledge of a geographic region, or location, to share that information. This ensures that the data contained in the Cultural Depot are timely and accurate. Additional countries and regions can be added to the system as needed.
Military and Commercial Significance
In addition to the original Phase II award of roughly $700,000, the Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded the company an additional $750,000 for continued development work on the Cultural Depot.
The Cultural Depot has been seeded with mission-relevant content for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Kenya, and Somalia (with emphasis on Afghanistan), which has been used to test and demonstrate system functionality.
Anacapa Sciences' system works to facilitate the sharing of information among individuals, units, specialties, and operational levels. This in turn helps maintain continuity between unit rotations.
The Cultural Depot also can be used by Civil Affairs specialists, provincial reconstruction teams, conventional forces, and any other user whose work would benefit from knowledge of local conditions and the events that have shaped them.
