ABSTRACT
Historically, technological breakthroughs have opened up new methods for information collection and repeatedly changed the intelligence analyst’s role. Broadly speaking, the evolution of intelligence analysis can be divided into five overlapping eras, each reflecting the type of information available at that time. Digitalisation represents the fifth and latest such era. Each era opened up new uses for intelligence. Like the laying down of sedimentary layers of rock, each new era has added new weight and complexity to the analytic task without removing the earlier layers. Intelligence analysts must be able to utilise material from each of these five layers, including the new sources of digital intelligence.
