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With a multitude of stories happening in the intelligence sector, we thought it would be prudent to do a Thursday morning “intelligence brief,” which should provide you with enough actionable information to get you through your morning coffee. We kick off with a story about Obama being briefed, daily, on the impact of the global economic crises on our nation’s security and end it with a story about using intelligence to combat gang violence. Hope you have a productive morning.

Obama Now Being Briefed on Impact of Global Economic Meltdown
The global economic meltdown will certainly play a role in impacting the stability of nations around the world. This is the premise behind creating the new Economic Intelligence Briefing, which is now part of the daily White House Intelligence Report. The move to add this briefing signals that there is a growing belief among intelligence leaders that the economic meltdown is now a major security threat facing out nation. Here’s more coverage.

House Passes Bill to Improve Information Sharing
Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that seeks to reduce the over-classification of intelligence information and increase the amount that gets shared. The bottom line that the over-classification of information related to homeland security interferes with timely sharing of accurate and actionable information. In addition, it also increases the cost of information security and needlessly limits public access to information. Sounds like a right step in making the right information available to those who can protect our citizens.

CIA is Winning in Pakistan, According to Panetta
According to Panetta, the CIA has been making major in roads with its campaign against militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas. In a press conference yesterday, the new CIA Director highlighted that the CIA has intensified its covert campaign of missile attacks, carrying out more than 30 strikes against Qaeda and Taliban leaders from drone aircraft. Read more here.

The Open Geospatial Consortium Elects New Directors
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) recently held its biennial election of directors. It seems that the organization added key international leaders to its board, including Jeffery Peters, Kevin Pomfret, François Robida and Rob van de Velde. Peters currently serves as Director of Federal Programs for ESRI. Pomfret is a lawyer who is an expert on spatial data and technologies. Robida is Deputy Head of Information Systems and Technologies Division at BRGM. Van de Velde is Director of Geonovum, the Dutch National SDI Executive Committee. Read more here.

Introducing DHS Earth
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made some recent efforts to use geospatial technologies to help protect our nation’s infrastructure. Called DHS Earth, it is a geospatial mapping and visualization application for sharing data related to infrastructure protection and improve situational awareness, according to DHS. In addition, it was built using a Google Earth application – wow, the power of Google Earth! Read more here.

1 Million Gang Members in the U.S.
Stay tuned for more coverage of how geospatial intelligence is used in fighting the was against drugs. But in the mean time, here’s a sobering bit of news. There are approximately 1 million gang members belonging to more than 20,000 in the U.S. This according to the 2009 National Gang Threat Assessment, which was released by the National Gang Intelligence Center and the National Drug Intelligence Center. The National Gang Intelligence Center is a part of the Department of Justice that is is a multi-agency effort that integrates the gang intelligence assets of federal, state, and local law enforcement entities to serve as a centralized intelligence resource for gang information and analytical support.

Tags: CIA, Drone, GEOINT, Intelligence, National Gang Intelligence Center, Open Geospatial Consortium, Pakistan, Panetta