A directive from the National Director of Intelligence says the mission has shifted from need to know to need to share.
In this informal interview, Defense Acquisition University’s Mark Oehlert describes how the CIA uses an internal wiki with thousands of articles, a YouTube-like video service, internal blogs, and social bookmarking to enrich (not hide) its findings. Moreover, the CIA now works more closely with its main client, Congress, by providing a context-rich stream of intelligence instead of a standalone “finished” report.
If the CIA really wanted to share, they’d open up their internal documents to everyone.
But military and intelligence services are still built around a core practice of secrecy.
That’s a weakness. It means that, if the secrecy is breached, they are vulnerable. To be effective in the future, these agencies will have to be able to function effectively even if core secrets are shared.
It’s also a weakness because of the overhead it requires. It is not easy to keep secrets – you have to screen your staff and encrypt your data and a whole lot more. That costs a lot.
The company – or military – that can operate fully in the open, will have a tactical and strategic advantage over the company that must keep secrets.
Whoa, Stephen. Unlock all the secrets? Isn’t that like showing all your cards in poker? I’m a proponent of openness but also a believer in the use of surprise, especially when the other guys play with different rules.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
If the CIA really wanted to share, they’d open up their internal documents to everyone.
But military and intelligence services are still built around a core practice of secrecy.
That’s a weakness. It means that, if the secrecy is breached, they are vulnerable. To be effective in the future, these agencies will have to be able to function effectively even if core secrets are shared.
It’s also a weakness because of the overhead it requires. It is not easy to keep secrets – you have to screen your staff and encrypt your data and a whole lot more. That costs a lot.
The company – or military – that can operate fully in the open, will have a tactical and strategic advantage over the company that must keep secrets.
Whoa, Stephen. Unlock all the secrets? Isn’t that like showing all your cards in poker? I’m a proponent of openness but also a believer in the use of surprise, especially when the other guys play with different rules.