Session 3.3d Tutorial: Cognitive Load and the Impact on Decision Advantage
Tracks
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| Thursday, November 19, 2026 |
| 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM |
| Nicholls Theatre |
Presentation Outline
Modern warfighters and commanders operate in an information environment of unprecedented complexity. The proliferation of sensors, platforms, and networked systems across the cyber and space domains has fundamentally outpaced the human capacity to absorb, interpret, and act on operational data. The result is cognitive overload, a condition that degrades decision quality, slows tempo, and erodes the command advantage that modern forces depend upon.
This presentation examines the cognitive load challenge as a first-order problem for coalition C4I architecture. As allied nations pursue deeper interoperability across space-based ISR, satellite communications, and cyber terrain, the integration of disparate systems and data streams compounds the burden on individual operators and command elements alike. Without deliberate architectural choices that reduce cognitive friction at the human-machine interface, technical interoperability alone will not deliver decision advantage.
Drawing on systems integration experience across complex defence programs, this lecture discusses frameworks for designing C4I environments that prioritise cognitive economy therefore reducing noise, surfacing relevant information, and preserving human judgement at the decisive point.
Speaker
Mr David Abel
Director
Luminact Pty Ltd
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Biography
David Abel is the Co-Founder and Chair of the Board at Luminact Pty Ltd, an Australian systems integration and interoperability company supporting defence and public safety customers. With more than 30 years of experience across communications, RF engineering, systems integration and program leadership, David has worked extensively in complex and contested operational environments. He is passionate about human-centred systems integration, coalition interoperability and helping organisations achieve decision advantage through trusted, resilient and interoperable mission systems.
