In the past few years, Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) has become the target of what could almost be described as infatuation in both the EU institutions and many of its member states. OSINT is the ability of an analyst to derive intelligence with all its added value from information gleaned not from secret sources but from non-classified sources. Commercial satellite imaging bought for the Satellite Centre in Tojerron (EU SatCen): OSINT. The different surveillance systems used by the majority of internet search engines: OSINT. The many experts, from academic backgrounds or not, publicly expressing their views on their subject or being available for interviews: OSINT yet again.

With the explosion of new technologies, information in all its forms, true, false or as is more often the case, partial or biased, is growing at the speed of light. As a result, everybody has access to information which was previously reserved for world powers. But this seemingly easy access disguises another reality: to be informed is not enough. One needs to be able to validate and arrange the information before it can become intelligence. It is a process that requires technique, means and time. It is the price to be paid to go from being informed to being in possession of intelligence.

OSINT places man at the heart of the question of intelligence: the difference between the two classifications depends as much on the ability to analyse as on the level of information received, but mostly it depends on the ability of the user to disseminate and re-arrange the information. OSINT is therefore dependent on the information officer's ability to analyse. Frequently described as representing 80% or more of the requirements of any organisation, OSINT is not in competition with classified information: instead, it provides a vital complement for it by allowing the rare available intelligence resources to be concentrated on the most complicated and difficult information obtainable. Or, in other words, it is the general practitioner who is consulted before going to see a specialist.

OSINT also represents another key advantage for EU institutions. Intelligence by its very nature is considered to fall under the sovereignty of each member state: based on open, non-classified and therefore non-conflicting sources, OSINT provides the institutions with the perfect platform to, quite legitimately, initiate cooperation in this sensitive domain between member states. And the institutions have risen to the challenge: the number of European projects over the past two years has multiplied.

One of the first of these projects being the creation, by a group of enthusiasts, of the EUROSINT Forum, an association made up of both public and private members. Since 2006, the association has sparked an increase in the number of exchanges and meetings on the subject, involving more than 300 people from the academic world, the private sector and the different departments in member states, the European Commission, the EU Council and its agencies.

The EU institutions have also been busy and several public initiatives have been launched. The European Defence Agency (EDA) set the ball rolling in 2006 with the launch of a study on the use of OSINT in acquiring military intelligence. This initiative was followed by two more programmes being launched, the first of which is training-based: in 2008, three two-week training sessions were organised for military and civil representatives from EU member states and institutions concerned by OSINT. Although initially intended for 40 people, these training sessions met with such success that 75 people ended up following them in 2008. In the light of this success, the EDA has established a more comprehensive programme for 2009, which will include not only general OSINT training but also specialist modules such as the fight against proliferation, anti-terrorism or specialist modules about certain areas of the world. At the same time, the EDA has also launched a project to develop tools based notably on OSINT for use by intelligence analysts.

This latest initiative is in a similar vein to those launched as part of the European Research and Security Programme under the 7th Framework Programme for research and development (FP7). Of note is an 'integrated project' launched as a second call (December 2008) intended to contribute to the development of a platform to exploit open source information for help in making decisions.

Europe's cultural and linguistic diversity added to its technological know-how mean that it has all the tools required for OSINT to represent a major advantage both in the domain of internal and external security as well as that of economic security.

It can therefore legitimately hope, in the not too distant future, to be able to catch up with the United States, which has recently invested huge sums in OSINT leading to the creation of the inter-agency Open Source Centre (OSC), which Michael Hayden, director of the CIA, recently commented has yielded "incalculable" results. When can we expect a European OSC?

(*) Axel Dyèvre (adyevre@ceis-strat.com) is director of CEIS, the European Company for Strategic Intelligence.