Worth a Look: Planetary Skin Data Sharing Initiative

Earth Intelligence, IO Sense-Making, Worth A Look
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Warning Notice:  This is a “heavy” site prone to jamming.  It's worth the effort to take a look, and has been added to the Professional Sites list.  There are also some screwy blockages on copying text.  This is not quite ready for prime time, but it is a righteous good start.

We were impressed by the Earth Science Initative of the Bush-Cheney White House, and this effort appears to take that earlier initiative further, this time in partnership with CISCO, which still has not given up on “owning” the Cloud.

The site proposes that the challenge is “Flying Blind” in a complex and volatile world (they don't mention that changes to the Earth that used to take 10,000 years now take three); and that the solution is a global nervous system able to sense, predict, and act.

This is a geek's wet dream, totally focused on bit and byte management and completely lacking a Strategic Analytic Model or any sense of how to mobilize the Eight Tribes and do Multinational Engagement on a global scale, but it has enormous potential if (big if) the public can demand that every aspect of this offiering be Open–it should be accessible via Free'Open Source Software (F/OSS); generate Open Source Intelligence (OSINT); and both receive and broadcast all information via Open Spectrum and a Cloud that is NOT owned by CISCO, open to devices that are NOT infrastructure-dependent (e.g. Haggle).

Worth a Look: First Ever UN Joint Military Analysis Centre Course (October 2009)

IO Sense-Making, Peace Intelligence

Course Information
Course Information

First UN Joint Mission Analyses Centre Course (UNJMAC) ever held

The last seven days of October have been groundbreaking and interesting at Nodefic. A new course has been born and introduced to life.

Text: Maj Erik Haugstad
Tasked by the UN, and in close cooperation with other NORDCAPS countries, a pilot course for personnel going to serve in JMACs around the world has been conducted at Nodefic. Being a pilot course for the UN, this is of course the first time ever a course like this has been held in the world.

Knowing as much as possible about the area and environment, in which we are participating in a peace support operation, is of vital importance for the contribution of the International Society to succeed. This has been common knowledge throughout times. A slight rewrite of Sun Tzu’s “Know your enemy”, will lead us to the very same conclusion. For a long time, also reflected in the philosophy of integrated missions, the UN has recognized that the need for coordination and sharing of information is essential for operational efficiency and mission accomplishment. In the UN Missions we have for some time seen the gradual introduction and testing of the JMAC, Joint Mission Analyses Centre, concept.

UN JMAC postponed

Our UN JMAC Course, scheduled for November 3 to 14, has been postponed as requested by UN DPKO.

The course will instead be conducted from 9-20 March 2009 at our peacekeeping training centre in Oslo.
We will come back with invites and more information in due time.

Phi Beta Iota: A Multinational Information Sharing Course, also under UN auspices, is offered in Sweden by the Folke Bernadette Academy, as developed by Col Jan-Inge Svensson, Land Forces (Ret), one of the UN intelligence pioneers, see Who’s Who in Peace Intelligence: Jan-Inge Svensson and also  Books: Intelligence for Peace (PKI Book Two) Finalizing.

Officers Call: A Conversation About Iraq II

02 China, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 05 Iran, 10 Security, Analysis, Ethics, IO Sense-Making, Military, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence
Officers Call on Iraq II
Officers Call on Iraq II

Sir,

There's nothing inherently wrong with the analysis of Al Qaeda (I just glanced at it, if you wish I can read in detail today).  The PROBLEM lies not so much in how we analyze support to terrorism (state, crime, other) but rather in the way we analyze (or rather do NOT analyze) EVERYTHING.

Here's what I have thrown together for you, in six pages with links.

Summary of Contents (OC Iraq II)

  • Why We Missed the Threat
  • Terrorism is Threat Number Nine Out of Ten
  • Terrorism is a Tactic, Al Qaeda an Interest Group
  • Without Legitimacy Forget About Stabilization
  • Rebalancing the Instruments of National Power
  • Three Things Secret Intelligence Cannot Do
  • Advise & Assist Transition to Exit Menu
    • Strategic Communications
    • Inter-Agency Professionals
    • Regional Concordat
    • Faith Brigades
    • Redirect Funds Toward Waging Peace
    • Contain Israel
    • Make Nice with China

Officers Call on Iraq I

Semper Fidelis,  Robert

Worth a Look: Life Cycle Assessment Made Simple

Commercial Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, IO Sense-Making, Worth A Look
Life Cycle Assessment
Life Cycle Assessment

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool used to evaluate the potential environmental impact of a product, process or activity throughout its entire life cycle by quantifying the use of resources (“inputs” such as energy, raw materials, water) and environmental emissions (“outputs” to air, water and soil) associated with the system that is being evaluated.

LCA is Not Risk Assessment. This is because LCA does not consider exposure, which is critical for assessing risk. LCA quantifies emissions, but the actual impacts of those emissions depend on when, where and how they are released into the environment.

Continue reading “Worth a Look: Life Cycle Assessment Made Simple”