The JBI concept, as defined by Gen McCarthy’s SAB panel, is a globally interoperable information “space” that is responsible for aggregating, integrating, and intelligently disseminating all relevant battlespace information to all echelons in a JTF, from the commander to the forces in the field.  If we peel the onion back one layer, we find that the JBI is distinguished by 4 key concepts:
	- The means by which it will accomplish information exchange is moving away from the standard query/response (or even the newer info push) models and incorporating the latest advances in e-business technology in the area of publish/subscribe mechanisms.  In a future battlespace, what this means is that all sensors, weapons platforms, info systems, and users can “publish” their information products (sensor data, planning documents, guidance, intel, analysis..) into a virtual repository where it will be formatted and stored for use.  Those same players can then subscribe to whatever information products they need, specifying the type of info, the granularity, the formats, and the timeliness with which they need it, and the JBI will take care of the delivery.
	- The JBI won’t just be a middle-man broker of information linking consumers and producers, it will also be responsible for transforming data into info and knowledge.  In other words, it will enhance, correlate, aggregate information and conduct some “light” fusion.  If several pieces of info on a given target, for example, are published, the JBI will aggregate them before sending them out via subscription
	- Next, the JBI will build upon the concept of distributed collaboration, evolving beyond the document-centric approaches we have today to an environment in which information objects can be shared and collaboratively developed or updated ; shared application contexts
	- Finally, the JBI will enable rapid, automatic incorporation of diverse units composing a JTF into a theater information environment.  The means of accomplishing this will be via a mechanism called Force templates.  These are software descriptions of military units that will describe the pub/sub mechanism, define the info exchange requirements and automatically reconfigure the JBI to incorporate that unit’s info mgmt system into the broader JBI.  (describe Kosovo problems with even getting a comprehensive theater understanding of what personnel & supplies were in theater -- critical for expeditionary deployments