The programme
Why Naked?
We're naked because the world is see-through. Intelligence is out there, naked, in front of our eyes, if only we have the tools to find it and the eyes to see it...
The world has changed. Rapid advances in communication and technology have made the old concepts of HUMINT, SIGINT, OSINT, MASINT and their cousins obsolete. Naked Intelligence 2010 will address the past, present and future of Intelligence in both Governments and in Corporations in today's rapidly changing see-through world.
Key themes that will be addressed are:
- Consumers of intelligence being kept in the dark: Many intelligence activities are just blind information or data hoarding and at best secondary research smartly upgraded by buzzword wizards. This maybe a bold statement but our experience of and encounters with decision makers and their support teams within both governments and business over the last 20 years confirms this observation.
- The excess of information: CEOs, CFOs and COOs and even mid level managers are drowning in the amount of information they receive each and every day. They have all the data and information they need, they sometimes even coin it intelligence but they don't use it effectively because it is not targeted, relevant or timely. Gluts of information lead to decisions not being made, actions not being taken and goals not being achieved. Caught in the avalanche of buzzwords and "must haves" there are far too many examples of management buying the latest IT solution that many times glorifies their deeds for a couple of months but rarely in the strategic perspective. Quick wins become long term losses. How can corporations get the intelligence they need?
- Not seeing the wood for the trees: Companies repeatedly fail to identify business opportunities that are potential goldmines, not because identification of these opportunities is complicated, but because they are receiving data from their information vendors rather than intelligence. Companies frequently have data, information and supporting systems they don't need and often find themselves in a contractual lock- in situation. They have a hard time getting the perfect solution because of vendors and consultancies that push the "common best practice" based on their own products or services, not on the specific needs of the company. Companies dream of intelligence but get data.
- "just in case" versus "just in time": During the Cold War (and to some extent today) government intelligence organisations' culture was "just in case" meaning that they tried to collect everything. Today, with access to overwhelming amounts of open source information the model of "just in time" is becoming prevalent. The corporate world must build their intelligence operations on this ethos to point end users to the quickest and most qualitative means of access for their requirements and to avoid building in-house stand alone "CI- organisations". Corporate Intelligence guides must facilitate data access, the transformation to information via infrastructure or conversations and the initiation of intelligence analysis when needed.
- The sheer volume of available data that needs interpretation to take meaning is growing exponentially due to the advances in information technology and sociological and cultural development. How can we deal with ever-growing open source information? What tools do we need?
