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(U) Key Reads -- When the Customer Needs Short-Term Support
FROM:
SID/Deputy Director for Customer Relationships (S1)
Run Date: 10/08/2004
(C) You are sitting in a forward-deployed CSG supporting the warfighter. The Director of
Operations (J3) comes into your office with the Director of Intelligence (J2) and tells you about
operations planned for the upcoming week. The J2 wants to know what NSA is doing to support
these operations. You look at the Commander's Priority Intelligence Requirements (PIRs) and
the customer's Information Needs (INs), which are comprehensive but wide-ranging, and realize
you need to tell NSA/CSS that the Command needs a certain production line or field element to
concentrate on specific essential elements of information (EEIs) this week to support the week's
operations plan.
(C) You decide to send these "Key Reads", back to NSA HQs. But who do you send them to? And
will all the analysts in the PLs and at RSOCs and field stations who may be able to support these
requirements actually see your email? If you are using SID's new on-line Key Reads process,
you know these information needs will be acted upon across the global NSA enterprise. This
example pertains to military operations but it is just as applicable to our integrated
representatives at the UN or Department of Commerce.
(C) Key Reads are aimed at implementing Goal 1 of the SID Placement to "Make the customer a
more active participant in steering the SIGINT system." Key Reads are defined as a
customer-driven information need tied to a specific, near-term (generally less than 72
hours) customer event, action, decision or outcome for which the customer expects a
cryptologic product or service. It is intended to sharply focus NSA global resources, and perhaps
for short periods of time possibly redirect efforts, to support the customer. It is not meant to
replace an existing IN.
(C) "Key Reads", in various forms and from various customers, have been around for some time.
But they aren't accounted for or tracked and may not even be reaching the appropriate elements
of the global enterprise. Building upon the Iraqi Key Reads experience, CRD Customer Gateway
has defined the business process and developed an online tool to enable us to expand Key
Reads to other customers and target areas. By taking this "corporate", we will ensure that
everyone has the knowledge to be in the customer's operational decision space.
(C) When a Key Read is entered into the tool, it immediately goes to production centers for
action. The production center, no matter where it is in the extended enterprise, will be able to
review their production queue daily and adjust, if necessary, to focus production on this most
important customer need. At the same time, the Key Read is sent to the Requirements Analysis
Center (S16) to map the Key Read to an existing IN/EEI, or if one doesn't exist, notify the
submitter that NSA has the Key Read for action, but ask the customer to submit an IN through
National SIGINT Requirements Process (NSRP) to document the requirement. The RAC will also
work closely with S2 to produce metrics that measure NSA's agility in responding to the
customers' information needs.
(C) An IPT** with cross-organizational and field representation has been established, led by
S11 Customer Gateway, to implement the process across our 50 customers. This
team will work issues such as Second Party participation, measuring the agility of SIGINT
products and services against Key Reads, determining whether quick reaction collection
strategies are needed, and linking Key Reads to the NSRP. We hope to have all customers
integrated into the process by Spring 2005 -- one step in building the single, integrated, global,
self-aware, self-synchronizing global enterprise.
(U//FOUO) For further information, contact
(
).
**(U) Notes:
IPT = Integrated Process Team
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108