In this chapter, we will learn about what is required to support an intelligence capability. We will also set the foundation for understanding the intelligence process cycle that an organization maintains. We will go through each phase of the process to provide a framework we can use to aggregate, structure, and apply information to be used as intelligence products.
Another way of looking at intelligence capability is how Lord Varys from Game of Thrones has little birds to give him pieces of information that are important to him or those around him (PIRs). He isn't the commander in the series but he is what would be representative of an intelligence lead in the organization. How he gets his information is part of the collection architecture that he sets up, but how he processes the data that he's gained and how he communicates, to whom, and when is another process in itself, which we will learn about in this chapter.