The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is announcing the first-ever strategy to improve the ability of intelligence professionals to share information, ultimately strengthening national security.

The document, titled the U.S. Intelligence Community Information Sharing Strategy, complements a related national strategy that President Bush released last year. The document responds to needs identified in the 9/11 and WMD Commission reports, as well as mandates in executive orders and the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act.

The intelligence community’s strategy calls for the removal of institutional and technical barriers to information sharing in order to give the federal government an advantage in making critical decisions to help keep the nation safe.

Information sharing is a principal component of the DNI’s strategy for improving the Intelligence Community’s ability to overcome the new challenging threat environment that we face as a Nation. This document outlines a forward-leaning information sharing strategy to enhance our capability to operate as a unified, integrated intelligence enterprise. The information sharing strategy is focused on developing a “responsibility to provide” culture in which we unlock intelligence data from a fragmented information technology infrastructure spanning multiple intelligence agencies and make it readily discoverable and accessible from the earliest point at which an analyst can add value. This new information sharing model will rely on attribute-based access and tagged data with security built-in to create a trusted environment for collaboration among intelligence professionals to share their expertise and knowledge. Moreover, we should reiterate our commitment to develop a risk management approach where we carefully contemplate anticipated benefits and potential costs, ensuring mission success and protection of privacy, civil liberties, and sources and methods. As we embark on this challenging endeavor, we look forward to working collaboratively with you to implement this strategy’s information sharing strategic goals and objectives in a manner that benefits the Intelligence Community as one enterprise.