The modern Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) revolution began in 1988, and it is known that it takes 25 years to move great ideas toward fruition. Early adopters appeared in 1994-1996, and then a smal second roiund in 2000-2004, after which OSINT was consumed by the bureaucracy (in the USA–in 89 other countries it is doing better). As we enter the final phrase, the operative concept is that governments are the beneficiaries, not the benefcators, of OSINT, and it must therefore be firmly rooted in Public Intelligence as a manifestation of Collective Intelligence, not in the federal budget. Elsewhere we have lectured about “The Future of Intelligence: Not Federal, Not Secret, Not Expensive.” That stands.
