Intelligence management and complexities

Abstract

Intelligence management is critical to organisations operating in non-routine and unpredictable environments such as the United Kingdom (UK) Police service. The increased number of artefacts used for the representation, access and communication of intelligence are creating complexities in intelligence management owing to the multidirectional and simultaneous information and intelligence flows. This results in a lack of coordination between, and acknowledgement of, the social and technical components participating in intelligence management. This paper considers the critical issues related to intelligence management and the complex set of information sources that partake in this activity. Multiple case studies were undertaken with 15 UK Police intelligence units to understand the people, processes and technologies participating in intelligence management and cognitive ergonomic methods led to a system analysis of its activities and artefacts. The research offers a socio-technical approach to explicitly account for the combined role and impact of awareness and artefacts on managing intelligence.