Intelligence and Social MediaLt Col Jason M. Brown, USAF

Disclaimer

This briefing will discuss how the Intelligence Community uses social media for collaboration

These views are my own and may not represent those of the USAF, DoD, the Intelligence Community (IC), or my chain of command

This briefing is UNCLASSIFIED

The Flat, Networked, New World

“We are living in the middle of a remarkable increase in our ability to share, to cooperate with one another, and to take collective action, all outside the framework of traditional institutions and organizations.”

- Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody

Background

The direct connection between stateside analysts and forward-deployed troops has made significant contributions to battlefield successes in the last several years

Social media has played a big role in removing obstacles for analysts to share ideas and collaborate directly with others outside their organization

Warfighting is no longer a matter of geography…it’s a mentality.

“Military Taps Social Networking Skills”- NYT 7 June 2010

Socially-Networked Warfighters

Intelligence analysts and consumers are developing meaningful relationships using social media and other IT

Enables analysts to become problem-centric rather than source-centric

The “network” has become as valuable, if not more, than the sources

"This flag was flown over Khan Neshin Castle, Rig District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan on 5 May 2010 in honor of the DGS-2 crew by the Marines of 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion."

Young Marines thanking young Airmen, whom they’ve never met (but are all Facebook friends by now)

IC Social Media Programs

A-Space (Analytic Space) “Facebook for Spies” - CNN Virtual work environment that

allows IC analysts to connect and collaborate

eChirp Microblogging platform similar

to Twitter Situational awareness, alerts

to breaking events, and time dominant collaboration

Intellipedia Wiki used by the Intelligence,

Defense, Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, and Diplomatic Communities

eChirp

A-Space

Intelligence Transformation

From To

Finished Intelligence Living Intelligence

Coordinating Collaborating

Need to Know Need to Share

Requirements-focus Mission-focus

Production Problem-Solving

Single-sourced Crowd-sourced

Social Media and associated IT are critical enablers to the IC transformation

Challenges

Analyst, operator, and consumer communities of interest are still primarily using social media 1.0 (IRC) to interact Multiple networks with different

classification levels are roadblocks

Many analysts using SM regard themselves as isolated adventurers in hostile terrain SM use challenges linear

processes and established business practices

Organizational “branding” is still pervasive

mIRC – First Gen Social Media

Social Networking and Disaster Relief

Conversation with my all-source analysts after receiving word we would execute the first RQ-4 Global Hawk mission over Haiti… Me: “You all need to reach out directly to the folks who will

need support from this first Global Hawk mission.” SrA Cherry: “We’ve already done that, Sir. We have over

700 ad hoc imagery requests lined up.” (50 is normal for a mission)

Me: “Where did you find 700 ad hocs????” SrA Cherry: “Well, Sir, we chatted with some folks at AMC,

the MEU, the Embassy, State Dept, the Navy, the airborne unit who’s heading there, the Coast Guard, AFSOC, my dad who works at USAID…oh and all the analysts here, of course.”

All Partners Access Network

DoD Web 2.0 tool that integrates interagency, NGO & partner nation HA/DR efforts

Began as Asia- Pacific Access Network; SOUTHCOM adopted for Haiti

Supports HA/DR efforts and exercises world-wide

APAN: Situation Updates

APAN: Imagery Haiti HA/DR showed

unprecedented amount of declassified imagery including first unclass UAV video

APAN: Collaboration

Sacre Coeur hospital, fully staffed and waiting for patients, posted it had additional capacity. JTF Haiti immediately sent 250 patients and medivac flights

Allowed NGOs to coordinate movement of supplies and personnel into Haiti

Informed U.S. forces of food/water needs at relief camps and surrounding areas

Guided search and rescue efforts to Caribbean Market based on SMS messages from trapped citizens to users who posted request for help

Crisis Mapping

Uses crowdsourcing of social activism/citizen journalism and geospatial information to develop interactive maps

A citizen-derived “common operational picture”

Ushahidi mapping platform used in Haiti, Australia, Japan HA/DR and Egypt, Libya protests

Crowdmaps

The downside – denial of service, unreliable sources & infiltrators

The upside – great resource for IC to contribute & receive HA/DR intel

Lessons from Disaster Relief 2.0

Recent crises have demonstrated how mobile technology and social media enable private citizens and organizations to effectively collect, analyze, and fuse open-source intelligence

“Every Soldier a Sensor” to “Every Citizen a Sensor”

Data that is unreliable, especially in life-and-death situations, is often worse than no data at all

How will intelligence organizations learn from and/or integrate into this new reality?

It Takes a Network: The New Frontline of Modern Warfare

“As we learned to build an effective network, we also learned that leading that network -- a diverse collection of organizations, personalities, and cultures -- is a daunting challenge in itself. That struggle remains a vital, untold chapter of the history of a global conflict that is still under way. “

- General Stanley McChrystal(Foreign Policy March/April 2011)

The Challenge: Leading the Network

Sources

NYT article - http://goo.gl/wxiMO APAN - http://community.apan.org www.Ushahidi.com, http://libyacrisismap.net Facebook for Spies - http://goo.gl/jHJuk McChrystal FP article - http://goo.gl/5Nsyk C4ISR Journal - http://goo.gl/T9gyv Air and Space Power Journal - http://goo.gl/4Kg4z Intelink – www.intelink.gov

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UNCLASSIFIED

Intelligence and Social Media

Lt Col Jason M. Brown, USAF

Jason.brown@osd.mil

703-695-4246

Twitter: @collabsource