The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) today released its latest white paper, “Expectations of Intelligence in the Information Age.” Prepared by the INSA Rebalance Task Force, the white paper provides analysis about how evolving expectations of policy makers may impact the Intelligence Community (IC). Specifically, because policy makers now have access to rich, new sources of information and knowledge at their desktops and via mobile devices, they will expect the IC to develop techniques to quickly and accurately integrate these new sources of information with those upon which they have traditionally relied.

Chuck Alsup, INSA Acting President and Vice President for Policy, noted, “As the U.S. Intelligence Community shifts from supporting tactical operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to a more global, strategic focus associated with rebalancing, policy makers will demand timely, relevant information from the best possible sources, including new, rapidly evolving streams of information and knowledge. The Rebalance Task Force addresses this challenge for the IC and suggests that a significant cultural shift is in order for the IC to satisfy the demands of policy makers.”

The key proposals presented at the conclusion of the white paper are:

1. Policy makers should engage the IC to better understand the relative roles of open source and traditional intelligence in meeting the policy makers’ demand for knowledge of national security issues and events.

2. The executive and legislative branches should act to ensure that privacy and civil liberty rights impacted by open source collection are protected.

3. A coalition of knowledgeable experts should be formed to consider and recommend ways to resolve the practical issues associated with the collection, analysis, validation, integration and dissemination of openly sourced intelligence.

Dr. Stephen Cambone, former Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and INSA Rebalance Task Force Chair, said, “In the new era of global access to diverse and burgeoning sources of data and information, the U.S. Congress will need to authorize appropriate techniques for use by the IC to allow it to extract value and knowledge from open sources.”

The white paper was released in conjunction with last evening’s INSA Rebalance Leadership Dinner which featured Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

To learn more about the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) visit www.insaonline.org.