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Let's begin by keeping this simple. Intelligence is processed information that enables informed decision-making and reduces uncertainty. "Processed" implies a series of actions, operations, procedures to bring about a result that is qualified by an adjective.
This adjective can refer to an organization's area of intelligence responsibility (AIR), interest (AII), and / or operations (AO). It can also refer to a specific outcome. For example - "identify risks, threats, developments and opportunities".
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Security has three functions - protect, police, and prevent. Therefore, security intelligence is processed information that enables informed decision-making and reduces uncertainty by identifying risks and threats to an organization. The degree of protection is largely dependent upon the scope of intelligence operations. For example, as can be seen here , security intelligence could embrace a multitude of other intelligence functions. It could also be quite limited.
Traditionally, at a strategic level, security intelligence has also been defined as "processed information" that enables informed decision-making and reduces uncertainty by identifying the identity, capability and intentions of hostile individuals or organizations that may be engaged in espionage or sabotage or subversion or terrorism activities. Since these activities could be criminal in nature, intelligence operations would be limited to the criminal intelligence function. Or would it?
Unfortunately, for the sake of efficiency, security intelligence mandates are not always clear. For example, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's (CSIS) mandate is dedicated to the protection of Canada's national security interests and the safety of Canadians. This has been defined as:
- protecting Canada and Canadians at home and abroad
- ensuring Canada is not a base for threats to our allies
- Contributing to international security
CSIS has further refined their mandate by focussing on seven Priority Areas that include terrorism, and espionage and foreign interference. Interestingly, terrorism has been couched in political terms by defining it as the threat or the use of violence against persons or property for the purpose of achieving political, religious or ideological objectives. I suspect this has been done to dodge the issue of criminality which falls into the lap of the police. This has caused jurisidictional challenges, and brings us full-circle.
As an intelligence discipline, security intelligence is broad in scope. This demands either an integrated (multiple agencies jointly controlled) or a unified (single agency) approach to operations. To contribute to this discussion please click here .
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Put two or more competitive intelligence consultants in the room, and you will get as many different defintions. Again, I go back to the root meaning of intelligence, and then qualify it by referring to the defintion of "competitive"; namely a rivalry between two or more businesses striving for the same customer or market. To that end, competitive intelligence is processed information that enables informed decision-making and reduces uncertainty by identifying a rival (s) stengths and weaknesses, and opportunities and threats within the market.
Like security intelligence, competitive intelligence embraces additional disciplines:
- competitor intelligence
- market
- technical intelligence
Competitive intelligence is also wrongly referred to as business and corporate intelligence. Ten years ago or so, business intelligence was used interchangebly with competitive intelligence. Now it has evolved into its own discipline focussed on supplying processed information to enable informed decision-making and reduce uncertainty by identifying your own internal risks, threats, developments and opportunities".
On the other hand, corporate intelligence is processed information that enables informed decision-making and reduces uncertainty about business relationships and representations, customers and suppliers.
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If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
Sun Tzu made these statements in 400BC. They are as true today as they were then.
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Intelligence, as a best practice, has made great inroads into the decision-making process. This not only makes for better decisions, but it also supports the four pillars of success - operational efficiency, forward thinking, value addition, and effective and efficient knowledge management. Or does it? Has intelligence, or for that matter knowledge management, evolved into a buzzword .