TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR STUDY OF USIB INFORMATION PROCESSING PROBLEMS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01139A000200080007-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 16
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 3, 2004
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: May 17, 1961
• Content Type: STUDY

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May 1961
UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE BOARD
t:OMMITTFE ON DOCUMENTATION
Terms of Reference for
Stegy of
USIB Information Processing Problems
I? Attached is the draft of terms of reference for the USIB study of the
community information processing problems. The present draft incorporates
the changes agreed upon as a result of the special CODIB meetings held at
the CIA relocation center May 15-17.
2. Graphic attachments referred to In the text are not included.
3. COMB approval of the present text will be sought at an early date,
possibly by telephone concurrences. Otherwise, the text will be taken up
at the next CODIB meeting, to be held shortly after our return from the
COMB Boston field trip.
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17 May 1981
UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE BOARD
COMMITTEE ON DOCUMENTATION
Terms of Reference for
,Study of
USIB Information Processing_problems
Purpose of Study
1. The basic purpose of the study is to help the USIB and CODIB to prepare
"guidelines for the development of information processing facilities in the
Community" (USIB-M-115). "The study should seek to establish and define
long-range goals, with particular emphasis on considerations attending the
use of Lind interpretation of information througt/ automatic data processing
and the development of compatible systems" (MB-M-144).
2. The need for such guidelines stems from the growing complexity of
the intelligence community, and the appreciable increase in the types and
amounts of intelligence information which must be handled. The inter-
dependence of the individual intelligence organizations and the high cost
of processing information make it mandatory that remedial action be taken
now.
3. The results of a study of the intelligence community will of necessity
reflect the problems uppermost in each intelligence component as a
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consequence of providing information to, or receiving information from, the other
components of the oommunity. Such problems should be identified and, to the
extent possible solutions for them should also be sought during the mune of
the study.
4. To restate and summarize, we want to set guidelines for the develop-
ment of individual information systems and services of common concern which
take full account of the potential of modern techniques for processing informa-
Lion in order to improve the collective effort.
5. The scope of the study will be comprehensive as to sources from open
literature through SIGINT or other "exotic" collection programs. Similarly,
It will have to take a broad view of the intelligence cycle and include in its
Investigations collection and the field preparation of documents, communication,
systems input and information dissemination, storage retrieval and display
and user requirements for additional collection (See Attachment A).
Conceptual Approach
6. We visualize the study being carried out in various phases, with con-
siderable latitude permitted as long as the purpose of the study is kept clearly
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in mind:
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Phase I; Preparation of plan
Phase Organising the effort
Phase Mt Fact gathering
Phase IV: Analysis
Phase V: Formulation of conclusions
Phase VI: Formulation of recommendations
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7. The control of the study should remain unmistakably and firmly in the
hands of CODIB.
8. Dependence on outside help should be limited to expertise needed to
make up deficiencies arising as a result of inability of the intelligence
community to staff the effort from its own people. Non-government groups
may be encouraged to undertake research efforts of value to intelligence at
no cost to the Government.
9. The fact finding phase should in all probability include the identification
of:
- the activities which by reason of function are to be included
in the study.
- the needs of these activities for classified information and
for open literature to discharge their intelligence missions.
- the problems of (a) knowing that the required information
exists; and (b) gaining access to the information itself.
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- the problems of preparing input in view of the multiptioity
of spumes, varlet', formats, security controls, languages;
of the perishability of the information; and of the competition
for information.
- the problems of dissemination by receiving processing centers,
Including matching receipts with requirements.
- the problem of servicing requests for information by retrieval
from storage.
- current and long-range programs affecting any of the above.
10. The analysis phase should carefully examine questions of organization,
controls and procedures. The inadequacies of the present way in which the
intelligence community processes its imformation are to be identified.
Possible remedial steps should be examined, and statements made of
prospective advantages, disadvantages and difficulties.
11. Major components which we can predict will be directly involved are:
a. State, including the Department and selected Foreign
Service Posts.
b. CIA, including the various reference services and research
offices.
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a. Defense, including the JCS, unified and specified Commands.
d. Army, including ACSI, the Tech Services intelligence Agencies,
the Field Data System, and the Office of Research and Develop-
ment.
e. Navy, including ONI, ONR and the Fleet Intelligence Centers.
f. Air Force, including AFCIN. AFIC, ATIC. ACIC, AFSC, AFOSR,
ASTIA, and the AT major overseas commands.
g. NSA and associated Service components.
h. National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC).
I. National Indications Center (NIC).
j. AEC.
k. FBI.
I. Non-USIB agencies, such as USIA, NSF and NB&
12. Numerous studies have been made over the past few years covering
various aspects of the activities and problems of concern to us in the above
components. These studies should be exploited as much as warranted in
order to avoid unnecessary efforts during the fact-finding phase. Projects
such as WALNUT (CIA's counterintelligence name check system), ACSIMATIC
(Army's man-machine system), and the AIDS project (Air Force 438L system)
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are oases in point. In addition, there exist many general studies which provide
contributions on the more theoretical aspects of our problems (e.g., NHS
reports series prepared by the Research Information Center and Advisory
Service on Information Processing).
13. Remedial action taken by the community may be piecemeal, hence
recommendations for action in specific areas need not await the completion
of the entire study.
The 8tudy Staff and Its Mission
14. The Staff assembled for conducting the study shall be a full-time
working group with no other commitments. Members are to come principally
from various Government intelligence organizations.
15. Expert consultants with skills needed to complement those of the
members of the group are to be drawn from organizations outside of the
Intelligence community (some full-time, some part-time).
16. Staff personnel are to be qualified to develop long-range plans for
Information processing and to establish guidelines for the introduction of
methods and equipments to achieve the long-range goals.
17. This analysis team should have within itself the capability to apply
methods and techniques of analysis to a wide variety of system problems.
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While knowledge of state-of-the-art in equipments and utilisation techniques
must also be contained within the team, the primary focus should be on the
operations--the problem of the users. Specification of the mode of informa-
tion transmission is an engineering problem; determination of what informa-
tion needs to be transmitted and in what format is an operations problem.
The efforts of the group should be directed much more toward an operations
analysis than an entineering analysis. In this regard, one of the pressing
tasks the tem would face is the identification of the information links among
the various organizations and the problems of interface between them.
18. It is apparent that the orientation of the analysis team is critical to
its success. It must be USYB oriented, its sole mission being to devise means
for improving information processing services throughout the intelligence
community. This attitude must be reflected in any system recommendations
or specifications resulting from the group's efforts.
19. As a by-product of the planning function and its orientation toward
service to the community, the analysis team could comment on the desirability
of mounting a continuing effort in its field of investigation.
Sources of Manpower for Staffing..
20. We estimate that the complement of the Staff will approximate 20
professional personnel, including full-time consultants for a period of at
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least one year. Secretarial assistance will be provided as needed,
21. Each of the following organizations shall provide at least one competent
individmilt State, Dedense, Army, Navy, Air Force, NSA, NPIC, JCS, AEC
and FBI. CIA shall provide up to 10 plus secretarial support.
22. In addition the staff may be augmented, as needed, by specialized
outside assistance to be selected from such organizations as: SRL RAND,
SDC, MITRE, and PRC. Organizations approached will be invited to make
competent Individuals available. We hope that the cost to the Government
will not exceed $30, 000/man/year. including expenses incidental to any
necessary move. Costs incurred over and above normal operating costs
will be borne equally by DOD and CIA.
Staff Control
23. The staff shall report to a staff direotor, who shall report to the
Chairman of CODIL Arrangements will be made for periodic reporting by
the Staff to CODIB and USIB.
Advisory Panel of Experts
24. Individuals in the Government having special competence in a field
of the Staff's responsibility will be identified and, with their consent and
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that of their superiors, will constants a panel al oossnlhinte to furnish advice
and assistance.
Security Clearances
25. All members el the staff shall be cleared for special intelligence; a
selected number shall be cleared into the NFIC; part-time experts will be
cleared on a need-to-know basis.
Prospective Hoeft
26. If properly organized and carried out, helpful results from this study
may be expected in four general areas:
(1) Clarification of responsibilities (see para. 27);
(2) Clarification of compatibility goals (see para. 28);
(3) Inauguration of "system of systems" concept (see para. 29);
(4) Creation of an integrated research support program (see para. 30).
27. 1.24e Here we should get some clarification of how to
allocate responsibilities for performing processing services in support of
Individual systems charged with carrying out specific missions. For example,
biographic information is a general category of intelligence; query, should
processing be centralized in support of a number of other components such as
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NIC (early warning) or MC (targeting and air defense analysis), or should pro-
ceasing be decentralized?
28. Compatibility. We should get help in finning up concepts, now rather
loose, about the need for common coding, common formating, compatible
computer programming (an extension of the COBOL approach), compatible
remote systems input equipment, and compatible processing equipment. The
entire business of planning data exchange programs, which is a corollary of
the biographic example mentioned above, should be clarified. This effort
should include the integration of dissemination and requirements control
practices. The study should not only identify desirable goals but recommend
means for their attainment.
29. "System of systems" approach. The existence of a multiplicity of
separate but interdependent systems requires a broader look than is usually
required when a single system is under study. There are certain basic
processes common to all our systems (see Attachment B), and there are
also certain operations common to all mechanized information storage and
retrieval systems (see Attachment C for one such scheme including both
textual and diagrammatic information). Moreover these processes and
operations are performed on a data base much of which is common to the
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major intelligence components. A "system of systems" approach would therefore
seem to insure an integrated intelligence effort as a minium, result.
30. Res_terchi_mm..,mmt*t of MB. The study will probably result
In identification of problems which will require exploratory research in areas
of common interest. Projects meriting community sponsorship should be
referred to a mechanism through which the several interested agencies could
support and direct a single development effort, or a group of closely related
or parallel efforts (see Attachment D).
Key Problems Amendable to Analysis
31. In a further effort to make as clear as possible what we want from
this study, the following tasks relative to intelligence processing activities
should be accomplished during the analysis and subsequent phase of the
project:
a. Determine an effective allocation of functional areas
of responsibility of individual departments or agencies
engaged in intelligence processing activities within the
Intelligence community.
b. For functional areas of common interest determine
appropriate means of direction, integration, coordination
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or allocation of responsibilities within the intelligence
community to ensure effective aocomplishment of assigned
mission; consider that improved EDP capabilities provide
a tool for more latitude in allocating responsibilities, but
also that some new restraints that must be identified are
imposed by the interplay of standardization and/or
compatibility and the costs of operating EDP installations.
c. Through a knowledge of existing and planned capabilities
of the various components of the community, including a
survey of USIB holdings and the scope and subdivisions of
the "common data base", determine means of providing
direction to ensure the effective discharge by these
components of proposed allocated responsibilities through
(1) Use of standardized procedures and techniques
(2) Use of compatible equipment systems.
d. Determine an effective means within the intelligence community
to ensure a dynamic and consistent advance in the capabilities
of the various components of the community to prevent large
discrepancies in capabilities from hindering the effectiveness
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of the community as a whole, including provision for evaluative-
type experiments of general community interest but too
expensive in funds or manpower for one agency to consider.
Ensure that each component group at any time not only meets
Its own needs but also provides services as required to the
community.
e. Determine the extent of standardization desirable throughout the
intelligence community in areas such as:
(1) Indexing, including re-evaluation of the ISC and
special consideration to relate any modified codes
to prior codes to allow for machine transformations
of prior coding efforts
(2) input formating
(3) Problem oriented languages for computer usage
(4) Compiler/translator usage
(5) Display symbolics and means
(6) Adequate security control of data within EDP systems
(7) Document storage in hard copy and reduced image for
rapid retrieval purposes.
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f. Project the evolving needs for communications in support of
intelligence information processing activities and, in
conjunction with appropriate communications agencies,
appraise the adequacy of existing and planned communica-
tion facilities.
g. Determine the extent to which EDP can assist in areas such
(1) Indications and warning
(2) Document reference
(3) N-dimensional pattern analysis
(4) ELINT processing
(5) Evaluation of source data content and reliability
(6) Dissemination control at all levels
(7) Coordination of collection requirements and the
matching of information as received to related
requirements for purposes of dissemination and
feed-back to permit continuous review and
revision of requirements
(8) Analysis of economic, transportation and logistic
system constraints
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(9) Targeting
(10) Systematic analysis of range activity.
h. Consider the need for and practicality of having a single
agency assume the archival responsibility for the community.
i. Establish means of accelerating progress in the above areas
In a manner consistent with the needs of the intelligence
community as a whole.
Attachments
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