FAS

Open Up Open Source Intelligence

08.24.11 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

If the Obama Administration wants to advance the cause of open government, one particularly fruitful way to do so would be to share unclassified open source intelligence publications with the public.

The Federation of American Scientists offered that suggestion in response to a White House call for public input into the development of the pending Open Government Plan.

“The U.S. Government should adopt a policy of publishing all non-sensitive products generated by the Director of National Intelligence Open Source Center,” we wrote. “Doing so would serve to enrich the online domain with uniquely high-value content on a broad range of national security and foreign policy topics. It would foster increased public awareness and understanding of national security and foreign policy affairs. And it would provide the public with a tangible ‘return on investment’ in this vital area of national policy.”

The U.S. Open Government Plan is being developed as part of the multi-national Open Government Partnership that is to be launched next month.  The White House solicited public input to the process in an August 8 blog posting.