Transmittal of Semi-annual Progress Report by the EIC Subcommittee on Requirements and Facilities for Collation

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00283R000200040020-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 24, 1998
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: January 28, 1953
• Content Type: MF

EIC-D4U
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28 January 1953
MEMORANDUM FOR; IAC Members of the EIC and Chairman
and Secretauries of EIC Subcommittees
E u$JFCT: Transm3.ttal of Semi nua3. Progress Report by the EIC
Subcommittee on Requirements and Facilities for Collation
to The ETC Subcommittee on Requirements and Facilities for Collation
has the responsibility for serving the substantive subcoi mztttees of the
EIC by augmenting, coordinating, and guiding collection activj.tiea related
to the gollect4on of economic information. At the same time t hp substan-
tive subcommittees are responsible for identifying through surveys' the
critical collection deficiencies and for notifying the RequireMnte Sub
committee of these critical deficiencies,
2, In this regard the semi, nual pxogress report of the Rec uire
mente Subcommittee is of special interest. to ell the enbcommitt4a of the
ETC. Your attention is directed to part a" (5) of the report, outainimg
the future program of the Requirements Subjc itteeo
25X1A9a
Executive Secretary
Economic Intelligence Committee
Attachment
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SECUR TY 71MIUTATIC T
23 January 1953
SF!ff-AITTIUAL PROGIZT SS 1 EP tT
ELC Subco .ttee on Requirements and Facilities for CoUattoc
I. PROJECTS COMPLETED
A. Repot on Foreign : Language Material. an 22 December 1952 the Sec -
e transmitted -- _. the t IC Secretariat its report with recantenda-
tions, an the handling of foreign language documents of interest to
the ecananic intelligence analyst,
Bo SE-2 . The Subcocsnittee participated in the survey of intelligence
de `ciencies revealed in Special Estimate X27, and prepared a report
to the Chairman, EIC, on the status of guidance to collection agen-
cies for the collection of information on the Chinese Cammunist eco-
cave
II, CC 7INUING PROGRAMS
A. Central Inds: . Although the Working Group on Central Indexing
has been Csso ved, the Subcamrti.ttee continues its offects to de-
velop methods hereby economic intelligence analysts would hire
speedy access to the total available docu mentaticn on arq one sub-
ject
B. Foreign Service Economic Reporting. The Subccm .ttoe continues to
act In BIP Of the A in co ting the needs of the intolli-
gence ca,mlunity for econmic reporting on a post-b r .post basis by
the Fvrei'gn Service. Repac-ting profane have been canpleted for
apP.roximately 97% of the foreign service missions.
The Subcammtittee is engaged also in a program sponsored by the
Division, of Foreign Reporting, State Department, for evaluating on
a pasta-by-post basis the adequacy. of reporting under this new pro.
25X1X .
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25X1X4
III. PROJECTS PEPIDII
A. Pex'pheral Reporting. Further study by the Subcommittee of the phM%I reporting program ms deferred pending the completion of cn
the spot surveys of the various posts by a State Department official.
The Subcommittee id.l l again consider this problem upon .receipt of his
report.
Telecommunications, The project of the 'Working (coup an Telecanmu-
ca Dais prepare comprehensive requirements for Foreign Service
reporting has been absorbed by the newly croated Subccon ttee on
Electaarai:cu and Telecammmicat .os. The program has been expanded
to corer all requirements in the telett 'cation field, not just
those for collection jjy the Foreign Service. A catalog of require-
ments has now been prepaared* The Subcc ittee awaits its receipt
together with recommendations for the allocation of responsibility
for collection of the various categories of information by the sev-
eral collection agencies.
C. Civil Aviation Repo. In response to a request from the Depart~-
n of` , the t oa?mIttee arranged for the preparation. of IAC
requirements for foreign service reporting on civil aviation, This
work is being done by the Transportation Subcasmitteo and 7tU be
reviewed by this subcommittee as soon as it is completed,
D. X nerals Reporting. The final propoc&l of the Minerals working Group
I't
n
c i under consideration by the Subc ttee and, olden approved,
will be forwarded to the Department of State to be incorporated into
the. crvmprehensive economic reporting program.
Petx?oloum Th art3 . The Subcommittee has reviewed a proposal on
pe 'mum reporting prcparrod by the Petroleum Subcommittee. This
proposal, like that of the Minerals Working Group, is designed to
supersede the petroleum reporting requtrementa of the comprehensive
economic reporting prog,?am? This proposal mnill be referred back to
the Petroleum Subcoa dttee for revision along the lines of the rnn-
orals paper,
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IV. SUPPORT REND
BY THE SUBCC14IITI
A. 21ontir List of Russian Accessions and the Slavic Union Catal .
M e a t e endors ques oar We ary grass .
for increased CIA support for these publications.
B. Central Card Catalog of External Research Pro acts. The SubcanmLt-
x--------. r----gym s
to establish within State Department' External. Research StaffI a
central card catalog of a3.1 classified external research projects
sponsored by Az r, Navy, State, Air, ISA, and CIA.
V. FUTURE PROMAM
A. The Subcammittee will in the future continue to devote its efforts
to the accomplishment of its three primary objectives..
1. To ascertain the needs of intelligence analysts for economic
information; '
To develop appropriate measures for augmenting, coordinating,
and guiding collection activities; and
3. To improve the means wheroby information already collected is
made readily available to the analyst.
B. In the pursuit of objective 1,, the Subcommittee will render all
possible support to the substantive Subcommittees in the prepara-
tion of their statements of requirements resulting from studies of
gaps and deficiencies. Specifically, the Subcommittee will develop
and publish a guide to .the preparation of requirements. This guide,
based upon experience gained thus far, will be designed to achieve
consistency and to insure maximum guidance to the collector.
C. It is the intention of the Subcommittee to analyze requirements
statements emanating from the other Subcanittees with a view to
malting appropriate allocation of collection responsibility in ac-
cordance with the capabilities of the several collectors.
The Subcommittee will attempt to develop an experimental collection
program for one foreign post whereby all collectors are guided by
one comprehensive collection program for economic information for
a period of one y'ea's after Mich a thorough analysis of results
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would be mew to deter whether c not the needs of the ccnsuur
had b better satiefiede This ntal progrm would eUocate
mcte precisely than has hitherto been attempted collection ree po si
ffi1ip* for the ? ions categories of a coca lc info ,tier to ir3st
that duplication of effort is kept to a rninismb The pry ald
further designed to oncoureV a =ich closer degree of c tiara
in the ie140
E. The S w Its re .ty to explore furthw
the problem of org rat iig adAUng h mterials to insum
ready avei.labilit r to the ca r, and in this cce eti on will
coordinate its efforts with than of the CIA E tral Indaidng ,
the CIA Lihesxy Reece es Section# end the IAC informal Caz ttee
of Librariame
o They Sub .ttee will ae ssic the rid to stwtr the adequaee of
services rendered by the collection and p ing activi-
ties of tba IAC.
Go The Sube tteee r em its continuing i ity to dwnlop
an an its ey basics, as apprapplatev new sesare of foreign
eee eeic intell.i co ink' tieie
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L ECUflITY 1170 fii+11TICU
CIA IToo 4139995
13 Doceaaber 1952
TMICF i DUII FOR: _ Socretary, Ecoonanic Intolligonco C aittce
SUt3drCT : ucrking Croup on Central Indexing
As indicated in the minutes of its meeting of 23 September 1952, the
$ubcamcItteo ea Requira=ts and Facilities for Collation has dissolved
I+
'a 'lorldng Groap on Central. Indexing, and forwards the attached final re-
port of this Working (xroup to tho LIC t .th the following caaionts:
10 Definition of the Problem - At the time of its ostablishment, the
Subccm itt eon men an acilities for Collation was charged by
the Chairman of the EIC frith developing and submitting roc anmendations for
the eqtablishing of methods uhoreby ecencuic intelligence analyst would
have speody access to tho total available documontation on any subject of
interest or ccncorno The 5ubeai.ttee was requested to eonsidcr in its
pursuit of this objoctive, the feasibility of establishing a central. in-
dead ng system for docuumentary material containing ecuu ni a information on
foreign areas.
2. Discussion - There exist in Washington and olsotiere in the US
today numerous reservoirs of specialized knoilodgo and competence. That
they have not been effective assistance to oconmic intelligence research
scorns due to three factors: (1) these reservoirs of information have
not boon located and identified on a systematic basis; (2) mochanisms do
not exist which ensure that all available data on specific fields is chan-
nelod to such reservoirs; (3) some reservoirs now oxisting are unable
systematically to organize cr digo t the material they are receiving.
Establishment of a central index for documcntt: of economic intelli-
genco value presents serious adriuzistrative and technical problems. 'A
central index will duplicate to acme extent the present indexing activi-
ties of other IAC agencies. It is clear' Bran discussions which have been
held among the agencies that each agency requires its own index files of
selected materials to meet its awn a ainistrative and research needs. It
is also clear that no agency can ar. will give up all its activities in
Uiis. regard in favor of a central index.
The magnitude of the task of contra]. -Indexing in torms of the bulk
cf material to be indexed cannot be specifically stated, but it is un-
doubtedly very large. There are in various stages of development a nw -
bor of devices, mechanical and electronic, uhhich, in Vieory, are capable
of organizing large masses of documentary material in a systematic and
naeaningtia1 mss o There appears at this time to be no conconsus among
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exports in this field as to the proviso capabilities and limitations of
ttloso various devices; it Is safe to state, `iouevor, that none of then
notr offers a complete and satisfactory solution to the problcxtii. h contribute to making information systemati.cal3y available
to analysts.
Its Recommendations - The Suboivnittoe recomends:
that the LTC note the attached final report of the ~loridag
group on Central Indexing and the Subcommittee's comments
thereon;
bo that further consideration of the matter of establishing
a system of central indexing be deferred until such time
as .t has been demonstrated that facilities and/or devices
exist which are capable of indexing satisfactorily the
large massos of material av4lablo to the intelligence
ca rnmtty";
ce that the CIA Librarian establish an informal working cam
nittee of IAC librarians, to moot regularly for the dis-
cussion and resolution of mutual problems, and that such
working group keep this subcommittee informed of its acti-
vities as they pertain to eccnanic intelligence.
do that the LIC note the intention of the Subcarsd.tteo to
devote attention to improving and au tinting existing
activities concerned with the availability of ecanoaaaic
information, along the following lines:
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(1) to provide L,nxtddance and support to the Resources
Soctian, CIA Library, progrm:i to mobilizo cmert
and classi2iod source materials in support of
intelligence resoarch (as outlined in the attached
prospectus).
(2) to arrange, thraxgh the Office of Colloctsim
and Dissaoninatiani CIA, for thh receipt, on a
se ni'.annual basis, of reports on the status of
development of toobniques, facilities and equip-
nont designed for or capable of indox large
volumes of documentary information.
TIiEODOfE U. IIQtDBECK
. Chairman,
5ubcor mittee for Requireaaents
and Facilities for Collation
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