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The Wiki and the Blog:
Toward a Complex Adaptive Intelligence Community
D. Calvin Andrus, Ph.D.Office of Application ServicesCentral Intelligence AgencyWashington, DC 20505calvina@ucia.gov 
An earlier unpublished version of this paper receivedthe Intelligence Community’s Galileo Award for 2004A much-shortened version of this paper appears in Studies inIntelligence, Volume 49 Number 3 (September 2005)http://www.cia.gov/csi/studies.html 
All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the officialpositions or views of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or any other U.S. Government Agency. Nothing inthe contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. government authentication of information orCIA’s endorsement of the author’s views. This material has been reviewed by the CIA to prevent the disclosureof classified information. For official statements of position, please contact the Office of Public Affairs athttp://www.cia.gov/cia/contact.htm 
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. You are free:
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to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work 
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to make derivative works
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to make commercial use of the work Under the following conditions:
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Attribution. You must attribute the work to me by name, email address, organization, date, andSSRN web link 
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You must also include the CIA disclaimer
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Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one.For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Any of these conditionscan be waived if you get permission from me. Your fair use and other rights are in no way affected by the above.To view a copy of this license, visit:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/  
10 September 2005
 
The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) Version 10 September 2005
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The Wiki and the BlogUS policy-makers, war-fighters, and law-enforcers now operate in a real-time worldwidedecision and implementation environment. The rapidly changing circumstances in which theyoperate take on lives of their own, which are difficult or impossible to anticipate or predict. Theonly way to meet the continuously unpredictable challenges ahead of us is to match them withcontinuously unpredictable changes of our own. We must transform the Intelligence Communityinto a community that dynamically reinvents itself by continuously learning and adapting as thenational security environment changes.Recent theoretical developments in the philosophy of science that matured in the 1990’s,collectively known as Complexity Theory, suggest changes the community should make to meetthis challenge. These changes include allowing our officers more autonomy in the context of improved tradecraft and information sharing. In addition, several new technologies will facilitatethis transformation. Two examples are self-organizing knowledge websites, known as Wikis,and information sharing websites known as Blogs. Allowing Intelligence Officers and our non-intelligence National Security colleagues access to these technologies on SIPRNet, will provide acritical mass to begin the transformation.
 
The Wiki and the Blog Page 1The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) Version 10 September 2005
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Problem StatementUS policy-makers, war-fighters, and law-enforcers now operate in a real-time worldwidedecision and implementation environment. Information about a new development in Baghdad isknown in Washington within minutes. Decisions about a response are made in Washingtonwithin minutes. These decisions are implemented in Baghdad within minutes of the decision.The total “intelligence – decision – implementation” cycle time can be as short as 15 minutes.While this is an extreme example, it highlights the tremendous compression of the response timerequired by all involved compared to previous generations. This severe compression not onlyaffects the highest priority issues, it also ripples back into the most routine intelligence, decision,and implementation processes.It does so for good reason. The compressed response cycle gives the United States significantstrategic and tactical superiority over our adversaries. Our national security is best protectedwhen we operate more quickly than those who would do harm to our people and our freedom.This compressed response time allows us to disrupt, interdict, preempt, and respond to injuriousefforts before our adversaries can achieve their goals against us.This compression is not just a preferred work style within the US National Security community.It is a characteristic of the way the world works in the 21
st
Century. Thus, not only do werespond more quickly, but also the circumstances to which we respond—in and of themselves—develop more quickly. These rapidly changing circumstances take on lives of their own, whichare difficult or impossible to anticipate or predict. The US National Security Community—andthe Intelligence Community within it—is faced with the issue of how to operate in a security
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Bernard D. Tremblay (ben)

What's good for the goose (IC) must be good for the gander (civil society), no?

reply07 / 30 / 2009
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