It looks like the U.S. intelligence community [IC] will be social networking soon. Following the old Rand Corp. adage -- It takes a network to fight a network -- the IC will try to bridge the silos that have been their Achilles heel for decades.
They will build a My Space/Facebook clone called A Space -- "A" stands for agent/analyst. Rather than social networking, their true aim will be closer to knowledge networking -- sharing knowledge and insights from all of the data they have gathered.
Will innovation happen at the intersections? Or, will the strong IC culture of "Need to Know" remain as "Need to NO!" -- as in: NO sharing of information/insights outside of our tight little group. Will this be another example of great technology married to lousy sociology? Hoping that new technology will overcome the human tendency to repeat what is familiar and safe?
IMHO, just putting social web technology into a strong culture, averse to sharing and connecting, will not change how things get done. My Space and and Facebook worked because they were dropped into cultures eager to connect. The IC needs to get the sociology right before they pick a new technology -- or the two need to emerge and adapt together.
Originally published August 24, 2007
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment