A Senate intelligence panel is pushing the National Security Agency to open its databases of raw signals intelligence to a wider audience within the intelligence community. […]

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence ordered the NSA and the Defense Intelligence Agency to arrive at an agreement by the end of August to extend access to NSA’s databases to more DIA analysts.

If some sort of deal is not reached by the deadline, Technology Daily reports, the committee plans to seek stronger measures in the intelligence authorization act for fiscal 2007.  

I was a little too close to this to comment fully, so pardon the tap-dancing. Consider this analogy: you can learn about world events by just reading the op-ed pages of a few major newspapers, or you can subscribe to wire feeds, read embed reports, and subscribe to citizen-journalist blog feeds. If you are an organization that makes its living on information which are you going to fight for? If you have long been a gatekeeper, what are you going to resist?

If nothing else another indication of the diminishing value of collection+ agencies and a sign that we are on the road towards consolidation (even if most don’t know it yet).

About the Author

Michael Tanji

Michael Tanji spent nearly 20 years in the US intelligence community. Trained in both SIGINT and HUMINT disciplines he has worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the National Reconnaissance Office. At various points in his career he served as an expert in information warfare, computer network operations, computer forensics, and indications and warning. A veteran of the US Army, Michael has served in both strategic and tactical assignments in the Pacific Theater, the Balkans, and the Middle East.