United States Intelligence Community: Information Sharing Strategy
Abstract
The need to share information became an imperative to protect our Nation in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on our homeland. The Intelligence Community's "need-to-know" culture, a necessity during the Cold War, is now a handicap that threatens our ability to uncover, respond, and protect against terrorism and other asymmetric threats. Each intelligence agency has its own networks and data repositories that make it very difficult to piece together facts and suppositions that, in the aggregate, could provide warning of the intentions of our adversaries. The inability or unwillingness to share information was recognized as an Intelligence community weakness by both the 9/11 Commission and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Commission. The President and the Congress have mandated that the Intelligence Community create a more integrated enterprise where information is routinely shared. Since these mandates were issued, progress has been made in information sharing, realized through the stand up of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), the Information Sharing Environment (ISE), and related partnership efforts. These endeavors, though proving to be excellent in facilitating greater information sharing, are the "tip of the iceberg" and continued focus on "accelerating information sharing" is needed. Simultaneously, consumers must protect the information made available to them.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 22, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA480812
Entities
Organizations
- Office of the Director of National Intelligence