Reference: Open Source Agency (OSA) I

About the Idea, Articles & Chapters, Briefings (Core), Director of National Intelligence et al (IC), DoD, Legislation, Memoranda

The Open Source Agency (OSA) was first proposed by Robert Steele to the Open Source Council in 1992, as an Open Source  Center outside the wire.  The rationale was that best in class sources would change constantly, and access was needed to all information in all languages all the time.  CIA and MITRE conspired to substitute instead the Open Source Information System (OSIS), a still-anemic unproductive system with limited sources and no analytic tool-kit worthy of the name.

On this history, see:

Journal: LEXIS-NEXIS OSINT Kiss to CIA/OSC

History of Opposition (15)

Despite the history of opposition, and the fact that the CIA's Open Source Center (OSC) today only deals with eleven countries on a more or less regular basis, while going through the motions with others, a robust multinational network has been developed over time that includes at least 90 countries, some of which have made gains in harnessing the eight tribes of intelligence, some not.  The Nordics, and especially Sweden, have been especially effective, at furthering the concept of M4IS2 (multinational, multiagency, multidisciplinary, multidomain information-sharing and sense-making).

On this progress, see:

Historic Contributions (246)

Search: The Future of OSINT [is M4IS2-Multinational]

There remains a need for an Open Source Agency (OSA) that is under diplomatic auspices as suggested by Dr. Joe Markowitz and endorsed by Congressman Rob Simmons (R-CT-02) and Robert Steele, both writing and speaking on this over the years.  Below are some references that bear directly on the need for and the means by which an OSA might be created.

2010: Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Trilogy Updated

2010 INTELLIGENCE FOR EARTH: Clarity, Diversity, Integrity, & Sustainability

Legislation: Smart Nation-Safe Nation Act of 2009

Memoranda: OSS CEO to DNI One-Pager

Memorandum: $2 Billion Obligation Plan Centered on Defense, for a New Open Source Agency

Memoranda: Creating a New Agency with a New Mission, New Methods, and a New Mind Set

Memoranda: Policy-Budget Outreach Tool

2006 INFORMATION OPERATIONS: All Information, All Languages, All the Time

2006 THE SMART NATION ACT: Public Intelligence in the Public Interest

2006 Forbes Blank Slate On Intelligence

2002 THE NEW CRAFT OF INTELLIGENCE: Personal, Public, & Political

1995 GIQ 13/2 Creating a Smart Nation: Strategy, Policy, Intelligence, and Information

1995 National Information Strategy 101 Presentation to CENDI/COSPO*