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Ran Hock

PLATINUM LIFETIME AWARD, Dr. Ran Hock

Dr. Ran Hock has done more than any single individual to educate both government and private sector parties with respect to the value of the deep web. He has single-handedly trained hundreds of individuals in the nuances of this major new intelligence resource base. Emphasizing individual analytic skills and common sense rather than arcane expensive and generally unproductive technologies, he represents the intersection of integrity, intelligence, and intuition in the service of all legitimate governments and organizations.

The Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) revolution began in 1988, and one could say that the Internet revolution began to sweep seriously into government in 1993 or so, that is the year that both DDCI Bill Studeman and Robert Steele both got emails and websites. Dr. Ran Hock has been “the” online access trainer of choice for the multinational audience choosing to attend the annual conferences, and the handbooks he created, new each year, have been prized references.

Below is his presentation to OSS '03 (actually just the summary), and on the right, click on the Frog to go to the current up-to-date OSINT Handbook Online that he maintains.

2003/12/202014/04/09

2003 Lewis (UNIDIR) Creating the Global Brain: The United Nations

Collaboration Zones, Communities of Practice, Historic Contributions, Peace Intelligence

United Nations, Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)

IOP '06. Under the leadership of Dr. Patricia Lewis, and in pursuit of the basic mission of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), the development of “ideas for peace and security,” this organization has demonstrated sustained excellence in the exploitation of open sources of information, and in the development of new forms of internal information management and external information sharing, that suggest it is a potential catalyst for a surge in United Nations capabilities to leverage information to deter and resolve conflict, to reduce weapons of mass destruction as well as small arms and other contributing capabilities to genocide and instability, and to increase the prospects for peace across the many regions beset by complex emergencies that reduce human security.

Along with Lakhdar Brahimi (AF), Louise Frechette (CA), and Patrick Cammaert (NL), Dr. Patricia Lewis was among a tiny handful of United Nations (UN) professionals who understood in the 1990's that the UN, like the World Bank and other organizations that seek to create a prosperous world at peace, is in the information business, and that Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) was both the common language and the coin of the realm.

Below are her remarks to OSS '03, still the best overview available from any UN official.

2003/12/192009/07/30

2003 Manwaring (US) War & Conflict: Six Generations

Historic Contributions, Military, Peace Intelligence

Col Dr. Max Manwaring is one of America's greatest scholar-warriors and especially valuable to all of us for his understanding of gangs and other asymmetric froms of organization that are vastly more adatable, imaginative, and resources than any bureaucracy.

He has been among a handful of patriotic souls speaking truth to power about the urgency of getting a grip on emerging threats that are non-state in nature. Below is his presentation of the six generations of warfare–on a good day the US is lucky to get past fourth generation warfare, and completely unsuited–not trained, equipped, or organized–for generations five through seven (we added the seventh, see Graphics).

2003/12/182009/08/02

2003 Markowitz (US) Open Source in Support to All-Source Intelligence

Budgets & Funding, Government, Historic Contributions

PLATINUM LIFETIME AWARD Dr. Joseph Markowitz

Dr. Joseph Markowitz is without question the most qualified Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) pioneer in the ranks of those presently in or retired from U.S. government service. As the only real chief of the Community Open Source Program Office (COSPO) he tried valiantly to nurture a program being systematically undermined by both the leadership and the traditional broadcast monitoring service. When he moved on to advise the Defense Science Board, he served America well by helping them fully integrate the need for both defense open source information collection and exploitation, and defense information sharing with non-governmental organizations. His persistent but diplomatic efforts merit our greatest regard.

Clicking on the photograph leads to the 1995 Strategic Plan that was rejected by a series of Directors of Central Intelligence (DCI) for all the wrong reasons. Since then Dr. Markowitz has written the Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) elements of all the major Defense Science Board (DSB) reports, and it is to his credit, as well as that of Don Gessaman, that the most senior civilians in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) fully understand both the draconian short-falls in our capaiblity, and the ease with which they could be resolved.

2003/12/172009/07/31

2003 Medina (US) 21st Century Analysis–The Coming Revolution in Intelligence Analysis: What to do when the Traditional Model Fails

Analysis, Government, Historic Contributions

Carmen Median retired–her brilliance and innovative spirit surfaced at the top too late in the game. She is, however, like General Peter Schoomaker, USA (Ret), one of those bright lights that in our view should be brought back in to manage a global multinational information sharing and sense-making grid. She is not forgotten, and we hold her in the very highest esteem.

Below is the presentation she made to OSS '03, and a link to the article in Studies in Intelligence that remains, along with everything written by Jack Davis, seminal.

Carmen Medina What to Do When Traditional Models Fail

2003/12/162009/07/31

2003 Pak (US) & Zdanowicz (US) An Estimate of 2001 Lost U.S. Federal Income Tax Revenues Due to Over-Invoiced Imports and Under-Priced Exports

03 Economy, Analysis, Budgets & Funding, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Government, Historic Contributions

Academics can be cool and useful.

These two guys are worth over $50billion a year to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), but the U.S. Government does not seem to care about intelligence-driven revenue-collection.

These guys ROCK and represent all that academics should be in the service of their country and theircommunity.

Dr. Simon J. Pak and Dr. John S. Zdanowicz, Penn State University and Florida International University OSS '03: For their extraordinary demonstration, with a tangible value to the public of $50 billion a year in tax fraud savings, of new methods of academic investigation into public trade records, and the consequent discovery of specific instances of import-export money laundering and financial fraud, as well as weight variances associated with the smuggling of contraband and the mis-representation of cargo.

Below are their paper and slides as presented at OSS '03. These guys should have their own investigative cell fully-funded by the IRS and ultimately in ther service of all governments (a multinational global service).

2003/12/152009/07/31

2003 Pelton (US) World’s Most Dangerous Places

Communities of Practice, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Historic Contributions, Methods & Process, Peace Intelligence

Robert Young Pelton

PLATINUM LIFETIME AWARD, Robert Young Pelton

Mr. Robert Young Pelton is perhaps the greatest journalist-adverturer on the planet. This is a man that gets kidnapped by accident, is recognized by the leader of the kidnappers, and is promptly released with apologies and an honor guard. His book World’s Most Dangerous Places and his TV series Come Back Alive are among the most extraordinary “ground truth” offerings available to the public and admired by the spies. In his every waking moment, in his every action, in his every report, he embodies the true spirit of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT).

This extraordinary person may well be the prototype for engaged citizen investigative journalism. Below is the summary of his presence at OSS '03, and links to his two most important websites. The photo above links to his Wikipedia page.

Come Back Alive Web Site including Dangerpedia

Category: Archives

2003 Hock (US) The Open-ness of the Open Internet