Challenges to Effective Collaboration in US Intelligence Community
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According to a new article, Information and Knowledge Management in Public Sector Networks: The Case of the US Intelligence Community, by Dr. Kevin Desouza, published in the academic research journal International Journal of Public Administration, there are huge IT, cultural and integration challenges facing the US Intelligence community.
Desouza, of the University of Washington, looks at information and knowledge management challenges and carries out a complex analysis of network organizations whose activities are, by their very nature, fragmented and 'often confounding.'
The paper finds reasons for why the USIC struggles to collaborate, among which is the need to overcome historical tendencies of organisational isolation, which has thus far led to a lack of trust and ineffective attempts at collaboration.
Dr. Desouza recognizes the need for further research to investigate how various interventions and organisational design protocols might help [foster more] effective and efficient information and knowledge exchanges:
'Getting access to data, securing funding to be able study problems, and carrying out complex analysis are some of the major reasons why scholars choose not to examine these networks... but these organisations are vital elements to secure the peace and security of nation states.'
The article was recently cited in a Harvard Business Review blog post by Dr. Tom Davenport, President's Chair-holder in Information Technology and Management at Babson College, while discussing the recent security issues being faced by the United States government.
You can view the blog post at the http://blogs.hbr.org/davenport/2010/01/why_they_didnt_connect_the_dot.ht...
The editor of International Journal of Public Administration, Prof. Colin Talbot, professor of Public Policy and Management at Manchester Business School, London, said:
'From my own work with the relatively less complex British intelligence services, I recognised immediately the value of Kevin Desouza's well founded study of the challenges facing the US intelligence community. I am delighted it is having the impact it deserves.'
IJPA is an international, research-driven, peer-reviewed, publication aimed at exploring the latest developments in public administration and management – translating theory for practice and practice into theory.
The journal is global in scope, covering developed, emerging and transitional states and all areas of public activity. The journal can be viewed online at http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/LPAD
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