Real-Time Open Source Intelligence Collection and Analysis:
Creating Contextual Awareness for
Decision-Makers Using Blogs
Dr. Jeffrey Scott McIllwain
Associate Professor,
Public Administration and Criminal Justice
Co-Director, Graduate Program in Homeland Security
Coordinator, Graduate Program in Criminal Justice
and Criminology
San Diego State University
mcillwai@mail.sdsu.edu
Basic Design
What engaging and worthwhile learning activities and tasks will your
students complete?
1) Identifying appropriate open sources.
2) Assessing credibility of these sources and methods used by them.
3) Selecting appropriate items for dissemination.
3) Creating a class (H Sec 601: Seminar in Homeland Security)-based blog for
disseminating intelligence.
4) Establishing thematic and subject-based links between sources (using wikis
and other methods).
5) Providing a space for analysis and synthesis of intelligence.
When in the course will the new innovation be introduced, both in terms of
the course calendar and in terms of the overall curricular flow of the
course?
1) It will be introduced at the beginning of class (second class session).
2) It will provide real-time context for discussion of homeland security issues
throughout the course.
What are the students' roles in the activity/
innovation?
1) Collect open-source intelligence for the site.
2) Provide analysis and synthesis of intelligence.
3) Establish thematic and subject-based linkages between sources of
intelligence.
How and where will your students work? Classroom, lab, groups, etc.?
Home, classroom, lab.
What is your role?
1) Establish the architecture of the site.
2) Edit and moderate the content on the site.
3) Contribute intelligence to the site.
4) Establish thematic and subject-based linkages between sources of
intelligence.
5) Mediate any disputes.
6) Ensure assignment is consistent with class and Program goals and objectives.
What other support services and resources will you need?
1) ITS experimental classroom (already arranged).
2) Blog host (http://aztecsecurityblog.blogspot.com/).
Learning Gains
What potential problems do you anticipate?
Lack of participation by some class members (despite the assignment being
mandatory). Proactive instructor and peer-based assessment models will be
used to remedy this potential problem.
What do you want students to know and be able to do as a result of your
innovation? What knowledge, skills, strategies, and attitudes do you expect
students to gain?
1) Determine the strengths and weaknesses of open source intelligence.
2) Assess the credibility of sources and the methods used by them.
3) Develop thematic and subject-based relational thinking strategies and skills.
4) Learn to use blogs and wikis.
5) To examine homeland security issues from local, domestic and international
perspectives.
How can technology extend and enhance the lesson in ways that would not
be possible without it?
1) Provides for real-time collection and dissemination of intelligence.
2) Allows for instantaneous feedback, analysis and synthesis.
3) Allows for collective knowledge and critical thinking.
Why is it that you selected this particular learning activity?
1) Adaptation of existing method centered on Blackboard discussion forum.
2) Integration with third-party software (i2’s Analyst’s Notebook) used in class.
How do you plan to gauge the success of your innovation in a way that you
could demonstrate this effectiveness to colleagues?
1) Quantitative and qualitative analysis of class contributions as manifested on
the blog.
2) Survey of students.
Definitions for this project
Intelligence: Refers to information relevant to a government’s formulation and
implementation of policy to further its homeland security interests and to deal
with threats from actual or potential adversaries.
Open source intelligence: Publicly available information.
Intelligence collection: Refers to the gathering of raw data through the
exploitation of open sources (e.g., government hearings and reports,
publications, blogs, television and radio broadcasts, web sites, etc.).
Intelligence analysis: Since raw data seldom speaks for itself (indeed it is often
fragmentary, ambiguous, and susceptible to widely different interpretations and
intentional or unintentional manipulation by the producer), intelligence analysis is
the process of seeing patterns, organizing parts, recognizing hidden meanings,
and identifying components of raw data to make judgments about the
capabilities, intentions, and actions of another party.