Intelligence 2023 provides an opportunity for intelligence managers, leaders and practitioners to generate new ideas, discover successful strategies and learn the processes that are driving the future.
The conference delivers the insight, opportunity and connections we need to build a bigger, more robust and versatile intelligence focus in our organisation.
Intelligence in the Future(s)
The Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers (AIPIO) says it is committed to growing the intelligence body of knowledge through scholarship, professionalisation of practice, support to major intelligence research projects, as well as professional and social collaboration amongst practitioners.
Intelligence environments in the future(s) will be vastly different to the intelligence environments of today, and therefore will require vastly different intelligence specific skills.
In anticipating and responding to constantly evolving security risks, intelligence professionals will likely be tracking new combinations of non-state and state-sponsored actors who threaten to disrupt civil society.
Shifting strategic alliances amongst these hostile actors, military conflicts, the presence of terrorist factions and street gangs, and deteriorating local economies will add to the complexity of intelligence work.
Hostile actors will have access to new resources, including computing technologies and cyberspace operations, as well as chemical and biological agents that will amplify their power to inflict harm and disrupt daily life and commerce.
This will in turn create challenges to the integrity of the information we collect and assess.
We must prepare the intelligence enterprise for the volatility and rapid pace of change in the future(s) by shaping and enabling agile intelligence professionals, assimilating new technologies and building practices that can anticipate and respond at will.
Each year, the AIPIO promotes a theme to focus our investment in thought leadership across the full range of our activities.
In 2023, the AIPIO theme is ‘Intelligence in the Future(s)’, with three sub-themes – Innovation, Space and Data & Integrity – each representing areas and aspects of intelligence that are rapidly changing and relevant to the intelligence profession of the future.
Throughout 2023 in the national events program, in regional events, our Communities of Practice and through research and thought leadership, including through Intelligence 2023, the AIPIO will explore differentiations between the current intelligence landscape and the intelligence landscape in the future(s).
Within the rubric of ‘Intelligence in the Future(s)’ the conference will take a deep dive into:
Space
Space is the fourth physical domain – the others being air, sea and land – and space intelligence is arguably one of the most popular demonstrations of an intelligence capability that challenges the ability for intelligence professionals to prevail in contested and increasingly congested environments.
We rely on space intelligence for navigation, climate change research, weather forecasting, community, everyday devices, and military operations, but we should ask, what other information is available and what other demands are there for intelligence professionals in the context of space intelligence.
Innovation
Innovation in intelligence practice, through technological and tradecraft advancements, allows intelligence professionals to improve productivity, increase agility and invest in their future wellbeing as members of the intelligence community.
The proliferation and expansion of data and intelligence sources mean that the ability to handle multiple forms of data at once while linking different pieces of related information is crucial.
The agility of thinking to pivot and respond to new and emerging threats in a timely and effective way, and investment in technology and tradecraft as enabling capabilities to support achievements, are vital aspects of the intelligence enterprise in the future.
Data & Integrity
We live in an age of information and misinformation – making the role of the intelligence professional evermore challenging.
The ability to effectively determine the integrity and accuracy of the information we collect is a crucial aspect of intelligence analysis and in the digital age has never been more important.
Not only is the integrity of our information of upmost importance, but we must also ensure that as intelligence professionals, our personal and professional integrity does not waver.
Developing your Tradecraft
Whether you are a seasoned professional or looking to get into the intelligence field, the importance of building, reviewing and mastering fundamentals of the intelligence discipline is vital.
These sessions will provide insight into differences in duties for intelligence professionals in different intelligence domains whilst strengthening your soft, technical and leaderships skills.
