With “The Cloud” effect omnipresent, it is time to consider the challenges and opportunities it presents in the data sharing and intelligence environment. Many commentators point to privacy and security challenges; others focus on this being “the next generation of open source intelligence ... to those who can access it” (sic).  

Data overload is another issue frequently mentioned, but I personally feel quite “underwhelmed” by the constant discussions about having more data than we can “shake a stick at”.  Statistics pointing to exponentially expanding information and web traffic are not newsworthy.   In my view this is a given, and should be left to the late eighties, along with compilation albums.

More information to share

One of the most significant benefits of a wider availability of information is the ability to share it to advance our intelligence. Information sharing therefore is not about “leading edge” or cost issues of managing available information. On the contrary, we have found that it is more about figuring out what information needs to be rendered accessible and why - rather than what is available.  Think outside the norm by all means, but don’t underestimate the power of simply sharing information which, through apathy, politics or budget, has not been viewed together previously. A prime example of this is how information on South African prisons and crime data has been shared to advance criminal intelligence.

Cloud reality pushing search into the next phase

To share information, of course, we need to access it, as mentioned above. The development of vast server farms, faster processors, virtual environments and the like clearly has relevance to how organisations share access and develop intelligence in all its guises.  What such advances call for, however, is not simply tools that access and integrate information and “whack a search engine on top.”  Rather we need more appropriate mechanisms to ask questions or help to ask questions and return something timely and manageable that can help with decision making.  

Clearly, open source intelligence, the blog sphere, legacy and static standing data all need to be considered.  And don’t forget that that the “old nutshell” of Data Quality and Standards are likely only to be even more problematic in this new reality.  It’s pointless then to seek a nirvana or impose artificial structure where there is none.   Challenge number one is how to make sense of all the information and get valid output from it.  Indeed, getting the best output from a greater volume and quality of information is at the very heart of the cloud conundrum.

Benefits of information sharing proven in criminal investigations

Accessing and sharing information is useful to all types of organisation, and absolutely essential to some. In the world of criminal investigations, information sharing has become mission-critical. By way of example, a recent visit to a US Fusion Centre (set up specifically to share information following 9/11) witnessed the celebration of success in identifying organised criminal networks through an extension of the intelligence picture to include outlying geographies, despite an earlier the view that this was unnecessary.

The Cloud heralds a new information sharing era

On a more general industry level, it is clear that our acceptance of The Cloud has radical implications for the way we find, share and interact with information – not just as individuals but as intelligence-led organisations.   Indeed I now predict a wholesale shift in how we both view our own privacy and ownership of personnel and corporate data and how we interact with it, and this will undoubtedly turn on its head some of the ‘givens’ and constraints which currently put boundaries on the possible, legal and desirable.

So as The Cloud moves through our atmosphere, we should b e prepared to weather the storm, because we have always known that fortune favours the brave.   A storm brings about change, and in preparing ourselves for it, we should also not be too surprised if 2012 brings with it not the end of the world as we know it, but a more joined up and accessible environment which if we approach with an open mind will benefit society at all levels.