The Future of OSINT and the Intelligence Community with Jason Barrett

Summary

Jason Barrett (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss the integration of open-source intelligence into the American Intelligence Community. Jason is the first-ever OSINT Executive. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Historical examples of OSINT
• The evolution of Open Source Intelligence
• The challenges and unique opportunities OSINT presents
• The future of OSINT within the Intelligence Community 

Reflections

• Trust and transparency 
• Efficiency in intelligence gathering

And much, much more …

Quotes of the Week

“We're living in an age when credibility and trust is really important to build. This is an opportunity for the IC to really build that trust, I think in important ways. So, it's an area I think you will see more of us being more transparent in our work.” – Jason Barrett. 

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

*SpyCasts*

• U.S. Army Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) with Dennis Eger & Shawn Nilius (2024)
• Cybersecurity in The White House with Camille Stewart Gloster (2024)
• David Petraeus on Ukraine & Intelligence with the former CIA Director & 4* General (2023)
• Irregular Warfare & Intelligence with IWC Director Dennis Walters (2023)

DEEPER DIVE

Books

• OSINT Techniques: Resources for Uncovering Online Information, M. Bazzell (2023) 
• Deep Dive: Exploring the Real-world Value of Open Source Intelligence, R. L. Baker (Wiley, 2023)
• Open Source Intelligence Methods and Tools: A Practical Guide to Online Intelligence, N. A. Hassan & R. Hijazi (Apress, 2018)

Primary Sources 

• The IC OSINT Strategy 2024-2026 (2024)
• DoS Open Source Intelligence Strategy (2024) 
• Ethical Frameworks in Open-Source Intelligence (2022) 
• Open-Source Intelligence, Department of the Army (2012) 
• Department of Defense OSINT Instruction (2010)

*Wildcard Resource*

• You’ve probably practiced OSINT techniques many times before – Think, Facebook stalking your old college friends to see what they’re up to. Many video games also involve the usage of open-source collection techniques: 
• Return of the Obra Dinn (2018) is one such critically acclaimed video game. The game, set on an early 19th-century ship, challenges its player to solve the mystery of what happened to the crew onboard by piecing together scraps of information from journal entries and related documents.