Clear, actionable intelligence is vital to the planning and execution of any military, peacekeeping or disaster-relief operation. The success of these missions is largely dependent upon timely intelligence, fused from multiple data sources. However, the dynamic proliferation of new intelligence sources such as ground, airborne and space-based electro-optical, infrared and hyper-spectral sensors, has made it impossible to track and identify important activities solely through human analytical processes. There is simply too much big data being collected for human analysts to sort through it all – especially when time is of the essence.
A new computer-assisted problem solving methodology, known as ABI, has emerged to improve the efficiency and timeliness of intelligence analysis to better understand and take action upon historical, current and anticipated activities involving national or global security.
“I don’t want our analysts to spend time searching for information,” said National Geospatial-Intelligence Director, Letitia Long in a July 2013 interview with WashingtonExec. “I want to take advantage of computers and technology to serve up the information that we need to be focused on.”
The ABI intelligence tradecraft organizes and collates large volumes of collected data, to make it easier for analysts to identify potential adversaries and their targets, by distinguishing relevant patterns and recognize suspicious behaviors before a possible threat may be imminent.
Throughout September and October, we will be profiling some of the many engineering and intelligence analysis experts behind our ABI solution to explain how this innovative methodology is impacting intelligence analysis and developing a “new breed” of analyst. See the profiles in the download section of this article.
Activity Based Intelligence has been defined and sponsored by the U.S. Office of the Director for National Intelligence and has been embraced by the major U.S. intelligence agencies.
Next week, our experts will share their views on the major advantages ABI offers. We will also explore how ABI can be applied to a broad range of problems outside the Intelligence Community.