Social networking for spies
Spy rings, networks of spies behind enemy lines, are something we don’t hear of as much these days as during the height of the cold war. But spies still need contacts. They still need to network and they need to build and keep set of contacts that they can share information with.
It should come as no surprise, then, to learn that they are being given a social network so that they can do this. On 22 September, the United States will launch A-Space, an online community for analysts across the US’s 16 different intelligence gathering agencies. The community is designed to provide a hub for analysts and a way for them to share information to ensure that individual pieces of intelligence are not overlooked or ignored.
The US agencies are promoting the networking and knowledge sharing aspect of A-Space. As Michael Wertheimer, assistant deputy director of national intelligence for analysis, says:
It’s every bit Facebook and YouTube for spies, but it’s much, much more. It’s a place where not only spies can meet but share data they’ve never been able to share before. This is going to give them for the first time a chance to think out loud, think in public amongst their peers, under the protection of an A-Space umbrella.
It is no surprise that an online community is being built for intelligence agencies. At FreshNetworks we are seeing a lot of firms wanting to build online communities for their internal staff as well as to engage with customers. They can be a great way for distant and remote workforces to communicate and for large and complex organisations to share knowledge and to help identify experts in certain areas. Staff anf colleagues can collaborate, share ideas and experiences and work together in the community.
We expect to see more and more firms building these kinds of internal networks over the coming year. In the current economic climate, firms need to become and remain competitive in the global market. The best way of doing this is to start by looking into the firm itself. Identifying pockets of excellence and allowing other staff members to find them. Allowing colleagues to collaborate on projects and ideas. And allowing firms to gain insight from the conversations that employees are having.
Not all online communities will need to be as secure or secretive at A-Space. They can all be as beneficial to the firm that sets them up.
