Inside the IC

The intelligence community has laid out new priorities for the cloud, AI, cybersecurity and more in a new "Information Technology Roadmap" released in late May. The IC's Chief Information Officer, Adele Merritt, joined the show to explain the goals of the new strategy. "This roadmap really provides a unified vision for where the IC needs to go over the next five years," Merritt told me. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the heels of a new intelligence community-wide open-source intelligence strategy . . . the State Department now has its own OSINT strategy. The Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) uses OSINT to inform U.S. diplomacy, a unique role in the intelligence community. And one of the big goals of the new strategy is to better serve U.S. diplomats across the world by generating more unclassified assessments. I spoke with Brett Holmgren, assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research, about the goals of the new strategy and what INR will be doing to better serve U.S. diplomats using OSINT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Leaders of top U.S. intelligence agencies have signed onto a plan to centralize and take better advantage of open source intelligence, or OSINT. The new OSINT strategy aims to make open-source an “the INT of first resort.” Those words, in the title of the strategy, are a tacit recognition that spy agencies have traditionally favored gaining intelligence from highly secretive sources – human intelligence, spy satellites, and electronic signals – rather than open-source data.  I spoke with Jason Barrett, the open-source intelligence executive at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and Randy Nixon, the director of the open source enterprise within the CIA's Directorate of Digital Innovation, about the strategy's goals. They include centralizing OSINT data across the IC, cultivating a world-class OSINT workforce, and harnessing new AI and machine learning tools. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Women make up about 40% of the intelligence community's workforce, a percentage that ranks behind both federal workforce and civilian labor benchmarks. That's according to the latest demographics report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. And women are even more underrepresented in the leadership ranks throughout the IC. But agencies aren't ignoring the issue. The National Security Agency's "Future Ready Workforce" initiative has already led to several changes that will likely make the NSA a more attractive employer for all employees, including women. And NSA leaders are also investing in education and other programs that encourage girls to get involved in STEM. I spoke with three women leaders at the NSA about the past, present and future for women at the agency. They are Morgan Adamski, chief of the NSA's Cybersecurity Collaboration Center; Kristina Walter, director of the NSA's Future Ready Workforce Initiative; and Tahira Mammen, acting director of the AI Security Center, which is housed within the Cybersecurity Collaboration Center. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Standard Form-86, a long-used questionnaire for government positions requiring security clearance, is set to be phased out after the White House Office of Management and Budget approved a new form replacing the SF-86 and several other legacy forms. I spoke with John Berry, a security clearance attorney at Berry and Berry PLLC law firm, about some of the big changes new "Personnel Vetting Questionnaire," including questions around marijuana use, mental health history, and foreign connections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices