Open Source Intelligence in the 21th Century

30.01.2023 | Tolga ÖKTEN

Open sources are an important topic of discussion in contemporary intelligence studies. Many professionals argue that intelligence should be based on covert intelligence collection methods and there is no easy way or shortcut to access information. For others, open-source intelligence indicates a new era in intelligence. Accordingly, in this study, some of the primary debates in the intelligence studies literature under technology generally and open source specifically are introduced and examined. Besides, it intends to contribute to the efforts of forming Turkish terminology. The main discussion topics are the democratization of intelligence, collection-analysis duality, transformation in job descriptions, strengths and weaknesses of open sources in warning intelligence, and intelligence failure. Around these topics, the transformation and the road map of intelligence are discussed.

Ökten, T. (2023). Open Source Intelligence in the 21th Century. Journal of Intelligence Research and Studies, 2(1), pp. 17-38, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.29228/icad.9