Totally done...

This just pisses me off: workshop to help the CIA's use social software to improve analysis/collection. Fuck them.

I know I shouldn't get mad about this since the CIA has proven to be so bad at analysis and data collection that it might as well be shut down. Nothing I could do (or anyone else) will change that fact. Still, it really irks me not to be included in the process. That will pass. I give up.

Comments

[chirol]

Have you read the Council on Foreign Relations report on intelligence problems

http://www.cfr.org/publication/11355/survival.html

It discusses using both blogging and flickr.com like software to promote agency collaboration.

[Chris]

Can you clarify the nature of your opinion here? Are you saying this is "too much" or "not enough?"

[Andy]

I'm trying to understand why you so angry about this John. Please shed some more light...

The compartmentalization of intelligence, created and perfected by the Nazis and adopted by the US, is inherently centralized.

Until the system can get rid of most if not all of the compartmentalization, the various agencies are going to spin and nothing will happen. When you add the fact that there is not a different clearance process, it only adds to the problem. A clearance from the Navy is not valid with FBI, etc...

[John Robb]

Sorry about the confusion. This has been something I have been pushing for years, including lots of work behind the scenes. It is starting to happen and they pull in the usual suspects for help. Totally fucking unbelievable.

[mark safranski]

Ok - got it now. wasn't sure why you were mad at first.

Tom and Steve spoke to the CIA analytical ppl a while back regarding blogs and the reception was, I infer from Tom's post, mildly positive but not indicative of being " in the loop" on the concept.