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(U) The Institute for Analysis -- Opportunities Abound
FROM:
Program Manager, Institute for Analysis (IFA) (S211A)
Run Date: 04/14/2006
(U) If you haven't heard about the Institute for Analysis yet, you may be missing out on
interesting opportunities that just might challenge your mental mindset and provoke you to
think about your analytic challenges in a new light.
(U) The IFA, a collaboration between NSA and the Global Business Network, provides the
intelligence analyst with a format and means to acquire new skills and access creative people
and novel ideas that enhance their capabilities and renew their professional development. The
IFA exposes the intelligence analyst to some of the most creative thinkers in the
world, some of the freshest open-source research and the most effective analytical
methods being used in the sciences, academia, and business.
(U) The IFA engages in a number of activities that you might find useful:
Addresses complex analytic challenges in an unclassified environment using open-source
data
Develops and documents alternative approaches to analysis
Conducts custom training for analysts and leadership
Introduces people and viewpoints that NSA can't or won't otherwise access
Publishes a bi-monthly newsletter available on the IFA webpage (Type "Go IFA" in your
intranet web browser)
(U) One thing the IFA does for NSA is to address a series of challenges - multi-month analytical
projects on questions of concern to NSA using open-source materials. The IFA has completed
two of these analytic challenges to date: The Bear and the Dragon which produced seven
different scenarios, capturing a range of possible Sino-Russian relationships that could
meaningfully impact US national security over the next fifty years, and Illicit Facilitation which
explored a new way to locate and understand terrorists, by focusing specifically on the service
infrastructure which helps them avoid authorities. Extensive documentation related to both of
these challenges is available on the IFA web page.
(U) Two new IFA challenges are now underway. Borders: Across the Great Divide and an
unnamed challenge on Latin America. The IFA strives for enterprise-wide participation and is
happy to report that the Borders: Across the Great Divide challenge has active participation
from sponsors both at NSA/Texas and NSA/Washington.
(U) The IFA-developed seminar on unstructured problems has played to audiences at
NSA/Hawaii and NSA/Washington to rave reviews: "Excellent course. It should be taken by as
many analysts as possible." "This course was absolutely amazing!" The seminar will be taught at
NSA/Georgia in May, NSA/Washington in June and September, and NSA/Colorado in July. Check
the NCS catalog at the end of April for exact dates and locations - don't miss this opportunity!
(U) As mentioned above, The IFA publishes a bi-monthly newsletter , which contains updates
on IFA projects, book reviews, recommended web sites and an interview with an interesting
personality. The current Newsletter, includes an interview with Steve Weber, a political science
professor and director of the Institute of International Studies at UC, Berkeley. Steve will be
moderating a panel discussion that will be held as part of the annual analysis conference in May
(see the related 7 April 2006 SID today Article).
(U) More about the IFA will appear in future articles. To keep up-to-date on activities, I
recommend that you bookmark the IFA web page and refer to it from time to time. Remember
the IFA newsletter is published bi-monthly, and here's the second edition hot off the press:
newsletter current issue
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108