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Global Intelligence Forum 2010
The Dungarvan Conference
2010 Conference was held July 11-13
The Mercyhurst College Institute for Intelligence Studies (MCIIS), an innovative leader in its field, took the world stage this summer and brought together leading practitioners from across the U.S. and Europe to share best practices in intelligence analysis at a conference in Dungarvan, Ireland. The first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, delivered the keynote address.
- View video webcasts of the presentations made on day one of the conference.
Conference Summary
Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland
United States
As one of the United States’ thought leaders on intelligence analysis, and an innovative research institution on intelligence analysis best practices, Mercyhurst College embarked on a number of outreach initiatives to capture best practices in the Intelligence Community. Toward that end, Mercyhurst hosted the first of what we hope to be annual conferences in Dungarvan, Ireland that focused on key intelligence issues from a global perspective.
The goal for this year’s conference was to explore the nature of analysis and its application in various disciplines, building bridges between analytic practitioners and scholars within those disciplines, and exploring best practices in terms of teaching analytic methodologies. Intended takeaways for attendees were a deeper and broader appreciation of the value of different analytic methods which can be borrowed as “best practices” from other disciplines, as well as instruction on the application of at least two of them.
Subsequent annual conferences will continue to address analytic best practices but with a larger vision to include intelligence as an enterprise essential to organizational success and learning. We plan to host the conference each year in Dungarvan in an effort to provide a more central location for our European partners, and continue to grow the relationship between Mercyhurst and Ireland.
Here's What They're Saying:
“We can never underestimate the value of improving the ways in which we gather, analyze, share and act on intelligence data. I’m pleased to see the contribution that Mercyhurst is providing to the intelligence community and look forward to a substantive discussion at the Dungarvan Conference.”
Tom Ridge, first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security
President & CEO of Ridge Global, Washington, D.C., USA
“One of the ways professional intelligence analysts are improving their practice is by looking to other domains to see if their best practices might provide insight into how to do intelligence analysis better. The national security sector in the United States, in particular, is quite innovative in this way, explicitly evaluating best practices in medicine and journalism for their utility for adaptation or adoption in the national security sector. This conference is intended to continue this path of innovation and discovery by exploring the nature of analysis and its application in various disciplines.”
James Breckenridge, chair, Department of Intelligence Studies, Mercyhurst College, Erie, Pa., USA
Click here for bio.
"The Dungarvan conference is certain to be one of this year's conference highlights for [European] intelligence professionals. By facilitating a truly interdisciplinary debate on analytic best practices, Mercyhurst is helping to redefine the state-of-the-art. Not to be missed."
Chris Pallaris, Head of OSINT, International Relations and Security Network (ISN) Zurich, Switzerland
"This Dungarvan event is a unique opportunity for analysts and intelligence officers everywhere to at last attend a conference where the focus is on analytical skills, tips, tricks and experiences. For far too long intelligence gatherings have tended to focus on high-level and often somewhat vague topics about the future, rather than the here-and-now of challenges that impact analysts every day. So Dungarvan represents a really welcome and very relevant change from the norm.”
Don McDowell, Director, The Intelligence Study Centre, New South Wales, Australia
Background of Intelligence Studies Program
The Mercyhurst College intelligence studies program was founded in Erie, Pa., in 1992 by Robert J. Heibel, a former FBI deputy chief of counterterrorism. Its goal is to produce a graduate who is qualified to be an entry-level intelligence analyst for the government and the private sector. From its modest beginnings with 14 students, it has become the largest program of its kind in academia and emerged as one of the nation’s leading authorities on the education and practice of intelligence analysis.
CIRAT, meanwhile, creates real-world work for intelligence studies students and utilizes staff expertise to gain contracts, grants and develop partners. Among its clients are the CIA Kent School, Department of Homeland Security, the FBI National Academy, Department of Defense and the Department of State.
