The Harlow Report-GIS
2023 Edition
ISSN 0742-468X
Since 1978
On-line Since 2000
first published week of: 02/06/2023
The Intelligence Community Is Coming to Grips With the Power of Commercial Data
by Tom Temin
Intelligence analysis has long relied on data generated by people on the ground and signals in the air. Now the discussion within defense and intelligence circles centers on the potential of data available for sale, so-called commercial intelligence.
Interview transcript:
Tom Temin
What is going on? You do sell data to the government, and many, many other firms have commercial data. Mostly for availability to the commercial marketplace. There’s hundreds of sources. What is the big deal in the intelligence world these days that you’re seeing?
Tara Murphy Dougherty
There’s a shift that is definitely taking place within the intelligence space. And we have seen this shift, which is bigger than the past two years, really come to a forefront. Over the past, I’d say 12 to 18 months, the war in Ukraine has played a particular role in highlighting this phenomenon, which seems to be a shift in the dominance that the national security apparatus of the United States has had for decades now.
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