Desk Research
Desk research might be the most common intelligence discipline regardless how advanced the organizations intelligence programs and systems are. Published information and data, pushed by partners, consultants and MI specialists as well internal resources pointing towards external intelligence is being scoured, gathered and pre-analyzed.
Crucial for efficiency and results is to know where to look and what to look for, to understand the quality of the source material and mark it for indication later in the process so quality differences are visible to the intelligence users after dissemination and to ensure getting the right information. This should be closely tight up with the earlier intelligence requirements evaluation, especially as a starting point of the intelligence life cycle.
