COLLECTION AND PROCESSING CAPABILITIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80M01048A000400090007-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 10, 2005
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: May 13, 1974
• Content Type: MF

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13 May 1974
MEMORANDUM FOR: United States Intelligence Board
Intelligence Resources Advisory Committee
SUBJECT : Collection and Processing Capabilities
1. One of the most persistent problems confronting the
Intelligence Community is the adequate exploitation of the large
quantity of information collected by various collection systems,
primarily the technical systems. This problem is becoming even
more acute as our collection systems become more sophisticated and
are designed for increased capacity.
2. On the surface it appears that the Community is managing
to cope with this problem, but I am not confident that this is true
in all cases. Some processing activities seem to be staying abreast
of the collection volume reasonably well; others are keeping up by
adjusting internal processing to meet highest priority requirements.
This results in substantial volumes of collected material never being
processed. The value of this unprocessed material is not known.
Moreover, my impression is that we are gradually losing ground as
we continue to collect volumes beyond the capability of our processing
resources.
3. Future prospects are even more troublesome. Virtually
all proposals for new initiatives, modernization or systems improve-
ments that come to me provide for increasingly greater volumes of
collected data. There are current examples of this 1 -1
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5. It is incumbent on the Community that collection and
processing capabilities be put into better balance. We must regard
the intelligence process as a total system which can be effective
only when collected data has been processed, analyzed and the end
product presented in a meaningful way.
6. I solicit the attention of IC program managers to this
problem. In particular, I request that proposals for new or improved
collection systems be accompanied by companion proposals concerning
processing and analysis of data to be collected.
7. It is my intent to include in my FY 1975 Objectives
recommendation to the President a specific objective that will
facilitate our collective effort against this problem.
W. E. Colby
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 25X1 Approved For Release 2005/03/30 : CIA-RDP80MO1048A000400090007-4
Approved For Release 2005/03/30 : CIA-RDP80MO1048A000400090007-4