Force Multiplier for Intelligence: Collaborative Open Source Networks

Radical expansion and modernization of open source exploitation is a strategic reform of great importance to the intelligence community. The Director of National Intelligence has given top priority to open sources in the nation’s "rebalancing collection" intelligence effort.  CSIS has recently completed its year-long project in which it operated a multinational "Trusted Information Network" (TIN), to organize and engage "outside" expertise on the Islamist extremist threat in Europe.  The TIN is a model for government collaboration with a range of specialists who can provide alternative perspectives and deeper context on critical threats to the United States and the world.  

TIN moderator, Tom Sanderson, presented three elements of the project.  The first part placed the TIN within the context of intelligence needs.  The U.S. National Intelligence Strategy lays out 10 Enterprise Objectives, one of which seeks to “strengthen analytic expertise, methods, and practices; tap expertise wherever it resides; and explore alternative analytic views.” This objective, focused on outreach to new sources of information, guided the TIN as it examined the Islamist extremist threat in Europe.

The second portion of the presentation focused on the subject matter insights developed by the TIN.  These findings, gleaned from a diverse range of vetted sources and debated among TIN members, ranged from the role of the Internet in radicalization to the value of court transcripts in revealing details on terrorist motivations and activities.

The third and final part of the discussion focused on the practical considerations and lessons learned from running a TIN.  Included was a brief overview of the TIN’s composition, the type of exchanges it fostered, the techniques used to incentivize its participants, and the strengths and weaknesses of the collaborative technology.  Tom Sanderson concluded the presentation by discussing future iterations of the TIN that might one day better integrate outside expertise with government analysts.

The full findings of this discussion can be found in the report Force Multiplier for Intelligence; Collaborative Open Source Networks.