A method, apparatus, and computer program product for determining and
assessing information for collection from information sources for a
desired level of decision accuracy are presented. Operations include:
receiving a partial set of information; performing a minimax
entropy-based test to determine a source with useful information;
performing a mutual information or a conditional entropy-based test check
minimax test validity. With an invalid result, the information source is
excluded from further consideration and the minimax test is repeated;
with a valid result, a cost/benefit analysis is determines whether to
gather the information. If the cost/benefit analysis succeeds, the
information is gathered. Otherwise, the information source is excluded
and the minimax test is performed again. A consistency check ensures
validity of the information prior to restarting the process. Thus, the
set of information is iteratively augmented until there is no information
to add or until adding information would be cost-prohibitive.