A Reliability Theoretic Construct for Assessing Information Flow in Networks

A reliability theoretic construct is proposed for conceptualizing the process of information flow. It focuses on information produced to satisfy specified purposes or to achieve preconceived objectives. Furthermore, the model incorporates explicitly the concept of an information producer contemplating a choice of action in an uncertain environment. The resulting models are therefore prescriptive in nature. The usefulness of this construct is illustrated by a case analysis of the effectiveness of natural resource data products in land-use decision making. Measures of system reliability of the information flow network are determined and sensitivity analyses performed. Numerical examples are presented and discussed. The prescriptive nature of this approach permits use of its results to indicate how a data producer can increase the effectiveness of documents by identifying the information flow network, assessing the reliability of each component in the network, finding measures of system reliability, and performing sensitivity analyses to identify the critical components of the system. The result is a closer congruence between the objectives of the data producer and the requirements of users.