The tragic and senseless shootings in Tucson, Ariz., this past weekend hit home for me and the company. Several of my i2 colleagues and I have called Tucson home for many years and we have been proud to be part of this special close-knit community.
The Tucson Police Department was our first COPLINK customer and the University of Arizona participated in the research and development of several key initiatives that helped advance COPLINK’s capabilities. As a result, we have a close relationship with both the citizens and the law enforcement community.
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords represents our district in Tucson and many employees who are former law enforcement professionals themselves, and have worked with Judge John Roll and his staff through the years. I’ve had the privilege to meet them both.
I am grateful for the collaboration between the Tucson Police Department, the Pima County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, the ATF, and other local and federal agencies involved in the investigation. I am confident their work will lead to an eventual prosecution. We stand with our fellow citizens during this difficult time and are there to assist in any manner.
On behalf of i2, I extend my condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones in this horrific incident. We wish Congresswoman Giffords and all those injured a full and quick recovery.
On December 20, The Washington Post published an in-depth article by two-time Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter, Dana Priest, and political commentator and author, William M. Arkin, entitled: Monitoring America. Focusing on the growth and expansion of local and domestic intelligence capabilities since the 9/11 attacks, Priest and Arkin talk about the potential mis-use of information – however, they fail to mention the positive impacts the growth in information sharing between local and federal law enforcement has had in increasing efficiencies in thwarting terrorist and criminal activities – all in a way that has civil liberties protections built into the process.
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This was first posted by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an independent campaigning organisation committed to bringing about change that protects the natural world from environmental crime and abuse. Re-posted here with EIA’s permission.
By Charlotte Davies, Intelligence Analyst, EIA
Recently, I was interested to read about a physicist named John Archibald Wheeler. One of Wheeler’s theories was (put very basically) that everything is information. Meaning, literally, everything is information – that the deepest foundations of the universe are ultimately made up of nuggets of information, corresponding to a vast chorus of “yes” or “no” binary choices, from which all physical existence flows.
So this word ‘information’ no longer merely suggests something like ‘facts’ or ‘knowledge’. As information philosophy explains it, the word has now expanded to mean something greater – something that can even be described in biological, metaphysical, even cosmological terms. It’s said we’re living in an information age. In recent times, the concept of information has mutated to symbolise and represent many different things, and come to guide us into myriad new ways of thinking and doing. Likewise, in the enforcement world, the understanding that information exists, that it can be captured, expanded and enhanced to enable appropriate responses to illegal activity has also undergone an expansion in recent years. READ MORE
UK Webinar: 25 November 3PM UK Time
Find out how to quickly unravel criminal and terrorist operations and easily identify their power centers with Social Network Analysis capabilities in Analyst’s Notebook 8.5 from i2. In this webcast, you’ll learn:
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How to quickly identify key players and relationships and the critical roles they may play in an organisation |
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How to uncover potential organizational weak points hidden in high volumes of data to help disrupt criminal or terrorist organisations |
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How to keep track of the rise of potential new leaders and the decline of old ones |
Terrorist and criminal activity can involve seemingly unconnected people, interactions, and organisations. Massive amounts of data can conceal critical relationships, and pinpointing their importance has typically required highly specialised skills—and resources.
Register Now
Robert Griffin Joins Board for Three-Year Term
The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) today named i2 CEO Robert Griffin to its Board of Directors. Griffin joins industry and government leaders from Booz Allen Hamilton, CACI, Lockheed Martin, ManTech, Microsoft, QinetiQ North America, Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems, SAIC and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In this role, he will work with the Board to help drive INSA’s agenda across the Intelligence and National Security Communities.
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i2 Board Member Recognized with Women of Influence Award
The Executive Women’s Forum (EWF) honored i2 Board Member Dr. Kathleen Kiernan, a former official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with a Women of Influence Award. EWF is a community of the most influential female executives within the Information Security, Privacy and Risk Management industries globally.
The awards, which were co-presented by Alta Associates and CSO Magazine in Scottsdale, Ariz., last month, recognized women in four categories: the public sector, academia, a private solutions provider from the security industry and a corporate practitioner, as well as a “One to Watch” award to a future leader in the security field. The winners were nominated by peers in the security community. Dr. Kiernan was presented with the public sector award. READ MORE
“We celebrate this Veterans Day for a very few minutes, a few seconds of silence and then this country’s life goes on. But I think it most appropriate that we recall on this occasion, and on every other moment when we are faced with great responsibilities, the contribution and the sacrifice which so many … have made in order to permit this country to now occupy its present position of responsibility and freedom, and in order to permit us to gather here together.”
President John F. Kennedy
Speech at Arlington Cemetery, November 11, 1961
Every day, I’m grateful for the veterans who have and continue to serve our country. At i2, we are fortunate and honored to have so many veterans as part of our global workforce from the U.S., Canada and the UK. As a veteran, I am very proud of their ongoing contributions to their countries’ safety and security. They work to ensure the delivery of new innovations and robust solutions that enhance the analytical and information sharing capabilities for defense and national security analysts all over the world. It is these brave men and women who combat the ongoing terrorism, cyber and military threats that exist today.
Let’s all take a moment to give our thoughts to those veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice throughout the decades, including the families who have lost loved ones in recent conflicts. And as JFK said almost 50 years ago, Veterans Day may only be one day a year, but let’s not stop thinking about them as today turns into tomorrow.
On behalf of everyone at i2, thank you.
Bob Griffin
i2 CEO
Sharing information across jurisdictions is essential for law enforcement to keep pace with criminals and terrorists who are not limited by geographic boundaries. More so than anyone else, local cops see this played out on their streets every day. For example, there may be a burglary that takes place in one town and the perpetrators sell the stolen goods to a pawn shop in another.
i2 Booth at IACP 2010
While some policy and process hurdles remain to make information sharing a larger reality nationwide, the technology exists today to make it happen. READ MORE
This is a guest post from Dr. Colin Thorne from the Queensland University of Technology in Australia about the use of i2’s Analyst’s Notebook in a classroom environment, which is helping students prepare for work after graduation. Thank you Dr. Thorne.
Since 2007 the School of Justice, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology has developed a healthy relationship with Visual Analysis Pty Ltd, the Australasian supplier of i2 products. During 2007 Units of study were developed within both the undergraduate and post graduate Justice programs in an endeavour to provide students with an exposure and understanding of Analyst’s Notebook. Since the introduction of Analyst’s Notebook software into the Justice program as an accredited academic unit of study the student interest has grown considerably. READ MORE
General Keith Alexander, the new Cyber Command Chief, recently stated that his current mandate is to protect against cyber threats to the Department of Defense. However, current law does not dictate how to protect critical infrastructure managed and/or used by the private sector. In testimony on Capitol Hill last week, Gen. Alexander essentially supported the notion that this planning cannot be done in a vacuum, but with the full input and support from private industry.
“We cannot do it without industry support, and industry can’t do it without our support,” he said. “But by the time a company reaches out to DHS after an attack, the damage is already done.”
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