ABSTRACT
Intelligence analysts have an inherently difficult, complex job. It is a job that requires diverse skills and expertise, and must be done in the face of great uncertainty. Analysts are expected to deliver reports about what may be. Rarely is there definitive knowledge or even a “right” answer to the problems they are asked to solve. An analyst must swim through an ocean of data, marshalling the data that might be useful, screening the data to try and identify data of value, i.e., information, potentially relevant to a problem, formulating hypotheses as to what the data could mean, and ultimately packaging and sharing their conclusions for the assessment of their peers and ultimately the tactical, operational and strategic end users that ultimately make policy and act in the government’s interest. Analysis is hard.
As important as finding the right data can be, also important (and even harder) is recognizing when and how data changes. The analytic process is inherently disruptive in that the simple act of choosing one course of questioning and exploration of the data, precludes exploring alternate courses of analysis. Analysts work among a large community of specialists where their peers and potential collaborators may or may not be known, and may have very different perspectives than their own. As a result, collaboration is hard, yet communication critical. Let’s see how the right technology might make analysis and collaboration a bit easier.
