IRIS SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT CO. - SAFE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00364R001703130038-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 6, 2008
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: December 17, 1982
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Release 2008/05/06 : CIA-RDP85MOO364ROO1703130038-9
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EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT
Routing Slip
 CONFIDENTIAL
Approved For Release 2008/05/06 : CIA-RDP85MOO364ROO1703130038-9 DDI- ,2~S~6Z
MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Intelligence
Deputy Director for Administration
FROM: Director of Central Intelligence
SUBJECT: IRIS Systems Development Co. - SAFE
Someone might ask us how these guys developed their "pilot
computer" system in something like a year at a fraction of what
Approved For Release 2008/05/06 : CIA-RDP85MOO364ROO1703130038-9
I.I IIYI I IILI\ 1 1IlL
 THE WASHINGTON POST - December 13. 1982
Approved For Release 2008/05/06 CIA-RDP85M00364RO01703130038-9
ByTbomas W..L
Winer ppman;,
M'o+h+'pe" 7en'510 i ...
port, surrounaea Dy aetense curuauanaa,s ?'of the League. of Women Voters'organized
and military procurement !offices, a.:smali
band of overachievers, Washington style, Also he Ford-Carter ua de Onis, who o was
has set up shop., lso on board are Juan de Onis w
a New York. Times correspondent in Latin
'
a
From the list oC names,. rt a might be
residential co met to or think-tank, America for 20 years, and. Joseph Fitchett_
P former chief correspondent for the Inter-
one of those Inter-
Ins uuons:i-ere the out-of- national Herald Tribune.
power find shelter until the nest change of :. What brings them together in Crystal
up the business. "dsut when that contractf
expired in May, it was not renewed iThe
European investors-setup-their own:oper-I
sting subsidiary :leaving Stout,' who still
owns '5 percent of IRIS, 'tin as an investor,
but out as part of the operation Boeker
said. in an inteniew.
IRIS' products are information and anal-
administrations.. F.`c.. :.
-City-is noCsorFie presidential mandate or ysis: The information is provided-by [tires
Paul Boekerwho was a deputy assistant,.'. foundation grant,. but the prospect of mak- Burroughs mainframe computers at= the
secretary of state n. the Ford administra ing lots of money They represnt a $25 IRIS computer center in Springfield;'which
lion at the age of 3 and later ambassador won gamb:e by -a Swedish- insurance receive some . 15,000 - _, sressageCZradio
to -Bolivia. corks there nuz. So does Jolui' company, a Norwegian shipping, line, and broadcasts-, government announcements,
Brian _-twOOd who was as start secretary`', banks in Spain,, Liechtenstein and Britain, wire service reports, official-documents=in
of state for congressional affairs in the Car- which put up. the moneyin the hope that a - eight languages daily, and return the=infor-
ter years .. _... small group of affluent clients would pay mation to clients' tgrminals n the format
Erland H. He;.nbotha:n. deputy assist-
upward of $100,000 a year each`for sophis- they select. The analysis is provided" by
ticated analysis of international political people like Boeker, de Onis,. Baron;"and a
ant secretary of state for East Asian affairs,
\ in the Carter administratioii is there, too. and economic affairs network- of correspondents in several for.
John Fatter, f sines Si:it' Department This is IRIS Systems Development Co., eign countries.
spokesman, will soon l n ,item as `director the U.S. operating subsidiary of Interna- "This is the most ambitious thing mcin-
of client report sere tional Reporting. Information System, or formation that's ever been-tried; said Att-
The `regional diector for North Amer- IRIS, the Dutch-based holding company wood, who is vice president of the American
Ica" is none other than Alan. Baron,'the that the European investors setup to de- operation. "Thecomputer absorbs about 3
N A:.-- --A __A _. __t._. .....--......_:..,,1 :-...,_..., million words, and translates it into soft-
i Approved For Release 2008/05/06: CIA-RDP85MOO364RO01703130038-9 are lai gunge" .: =
er c anon. e www-
commentaries appear in the National Jour- ization appeared to be:the brainchild, of
nal'and the Los Angeles Time. Anthony. Stout,. creator of_the National I
 When IRIS:. formation was first announced, it was described .
as a '`private spy network" or "privateCIA," a team of spooks
for hire whose electronic capability would rival. that at Langley.
According to Boeker and Atwood, IRIS does have CIA-style
technical resources, set up by a former CIA man, but the or-
ganization will work more like a newspaper than like a cloak-
and-dagger team.
The computer system was developed under the direction of
Barry Kelly, a retired CIA technology specialist who is now
president of IRIS. His function, Boeker and Atwood said, is to
design the computer system, not to influence the analysis of
the information the computer puts. out.
"Private CIA is misleading," Atwood said. "We collect iafor-_
mation openly from open sources. Our correspondents overseas
operate on an accredited, open basis. It has nothing to do with
the clandestine, dirty-tricks world."
"It's not hush-hush," said Boeker, senior vice president. .
`Anybody can subscribe. Any government can have its own
terminal It's.like a wire service, but with analysis."----
When irbecomes operational in January; he said; IRIS will k
distribute itsinformation-and analyses in several formats,: al=;
ways directly to each client's computer terminal` IRIS'vvil
publish a daily, report on. developments in each-of six-regions;:,,:
North America, Europe, Africa, Latin: America, Middle East.
and Asia ,.,.
.rte
IRIS will also publish "country-assessments," analyses of the----
politics, politics, economy, socialtrends and foreign policy-of whatever__':;
country the client is interested in. Each client can also receive -
a daily report that covers worldwide developments of interest
to his government or corporation. In addition; IRIS will pro--?`
vide `customized" special reports on request, and'what.Boeker
called "in-depth analysis of major events such as Mexicos
bank nationalization
services, selected - periodicals, government publications and -
other sources. Matching the information collected against the
client's requirements, the computers screen the IRIS informa-
tion flow in eight languages, select the information pertinent to'
the client,- and deliver it to_ the appropriate members of the-
-IRIS staff. The staff analyzes the information and then distill;
it into concise. English-language reports tailored to meet the
client's needs." -
you don't need any analysis
"If you are an American client
,
of American politics from IRIS," Baron said. "But a Third -
World country negotiating with, say, Weyerhauser, has no base
of information. The idea is to get this information down to the
individual person."
Baron said the computer would enable IRIS to assemble the
results of public-opinion polls in all 31 countries where they
are taken, a resource that he said does not currently exist. He .
said he will not be working for IRIS full time, but will make
available to IRIS, as part of its data base, the political analysis
he does as editor of the Baron report.
The principal investors in IRIS are Skandia Insurance Co.
Ltd., of Sweden; Bank in Liechtenstein AG; the Bank of Bit- =
bao; Seascope Overseas Corp., an affiliate of Lloyds of London; -
and Henry- Ansbacher Investments Ltd., a London merchant
bank.
According to Boeker, they wanted to have the operation
based in the United States because the most advanced com-
outer technology was available here, and chose Washington,
because it is the site of the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund. The European investors, he said, installed
their own man, Swedish newspaper publisher Gustav Douglas,
as chairman of the American operation.
The "initial investment," he said, "is about $15 million. We
expect to spend $20-to-25 million before the break even."
The "basic subscription fee" for IRIS services "be"gins at
$100,000 a year," the company says. Boeker acknowledged that
it is expensive, but he said the company is only aiming at "a
couple of hundred demanding clients."
Marketing began in mid-November. Boeker said the objec-
tive is to sign up 15 clients by April 1, at least 50 by the end of
1983, and 100 by the end. of the 1984.., .. ..,