New National Security Strategy – Potential Implications for Intel Community IT

The strategy aims to serve as a roadmap to protect Americans, expand economic opportunity, and defend U.S. democratic values. The three main elements of the strategy are as follows:

• Invest in the underlying sources and tools of American power and influence
• Build the strongest possible coalition of nations to enhance collective influence to shape the global strategic environment and to solve shared challenges
• Modernize and strengthen the U.S. military so it is equipped for the era of strategic competition

The Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines stated at the Potomac Officer’s Club Intel Summit on Monday, that the IC plays a critical role in carrying out the president’s national security efforts.  The IC largely has the same priorities and objectives as those defined in the National Security Strategy, according to Haines. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) expects to release a National Intelligence Strategy with similar priorities in the next few months, said Haines.  

Although the National Security Strategy offers few specifics regarding IC technology requirements, some of the themes in the document may translate into capability needs or enhancements for intelligence agencies. Concepts from the strategy that may translate into IC IT focus areas and priorities include:

The strategy seeks to strengthen the national security workforce by recruiting and retaining diverse, high-caliber talent.  Lines of effort in this area include prioritizing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; creating more effective and efficient hiring, recruitment, retention, and talent development practices; supporting professional development opportunities at all levels of the workforce; opening opportunities for the national security workforce to move among institutions; and prioritizing human resources capabilities and personnel to drive these initiatives.

The strategy also aims to modernize and strengthen the military to be lethal, resilient, sustainable, survivable, agile, and responsive, while prioritizing operational concepts and updating warfighting capabilities. Because emerging technologies are transforming warfare and pose novel threats to the U.S. and its allies and partners, the federal government is investing in a wide range of advanced technologies including applications in the cyber and space domains, missile defeat capabilities, trusted artificial intelligence, and quantum systems.

The strength of U.S. security also relies heavily on its unrivaled network of allies and partners. Building on this network is a key component of the National Security Strategy. Strong coalitions and partnerships also foster the U.S. focus on deterrence. The U.S. National Defense Strategy relies on integrated deterrence: the seamless combination of capabilities to convince potential adversaries that the costs of their hostile activities outweigh the benefits. Deterrence must be integrated across domains, regions, spectrums of conflict, federal agencies, and partners and allies. Data sharing, interoperability of systems and networks, and cybersecurity will likely be critical to these efforts.

Cybersecurity is an underlying component of several of the strategy’s tenets. The plan includes securing critical infrastructure for sectors such as pipelines, power and water, and also working with the private sector to improve security defenses in technology products. The security strategy also includes tracking, attributing, and defending against the activities of malicious actors in cyberspace. The U.S. is countering intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, and other attempts to degrade technological advantages by enhancing investment screening, export controls, and counterintelligence resources.

The strategy also aims to strengthen the tools of statecraft which includes equipping the government workforce with cutting-edge technology and better integrate data and analytic tools to support decision-making. This also involves adapting the IC by aligning organizations to better address competition, embracing new data tools, and enhancing integration of open source material.

Haines remarks echoed themes of the National Security Strategy when she stated that having a highly functional, adaptive and innovative intelligence community that’s capable of meeting the ever-evolving landscape is central to U.S. efforts to address the challenging threat landscape.

Contractors may find opportunities to assist IC agencies as they implement the National Security Strategy and the upcoming National Intelligence Strategy. Needed capabilities with regards to modernization initiatives may include interoperability, data management, cybersecurity, incorporation of open source information, and workforce training.