Intelligence

Failing to Keep Up

In what should be a surprise to absolutely no one familiar with the history of American intelligence, Bruce Berkowitz writes that the CIA lags behind organizations with similar tasks when it comes to using technology. “Despite what one sees on TV, there is not much ‘gee wiz’ software at the typical DI analyst’s desk. A few analysts use some specialized tools for sorting and displaying data (e.g., terrorist networks), and analysts who cover the more technical accounts use computerized models (e.g., analyzing the performance of foreign weapons).?But these are the exceptions.” Security concerns have prevented the introduction of Palm Pilots until very recently, and in general a fear of insecurity has resulted in the CIA making technology into a “bogeyman.” So even if somebody built a Total Information Awareness program, the folks with the most access to foreign intelligence aren’t likely to use it best.