An intelligence gap is a function of sources of intelligence and the ability to apply those sources to create actionable intelligence. The aim of identifying the intelligence gap is central to allocating responsibility for decision-making successes and more notably, failures.

The characterisation of the gap will enable executives to recognise whether poor decision-making has been caused by: on source failures based on inaccurate or insufficient information; intelligence failures based on inaccurate processing of sources & raw information; or intelligence application failures based on the inappropriate application of intelligence to a decision-making process.

The source gap can be measured against 3 parametres:

1. Quantity: The degree to which the current sources are sufficient to fulfil needs and objectives
2. Quality: The degree to which the current sources are sufficiently reliable, validated and current to fulfil needs and objectives
3. Relevance: The degree to which the current sources are appropriate in their scope and covergae to enable the required development of intelligence assessments, analysis and decision-making.

The source gap therefore contributes to the ability to collate and develop cohesive and conclusive intelligence. Any analysis of the intelligence gap therefore also considers the skills gap in being able to transform sources of raw intelligence into processed and easily-applied intelligence. The skills required to process sources or raw intelligence into actionable intelligence includes both human analytical skills & techniques as well as technological tools & techniques.

While the skills gap tends to be considered secondary behind the primary role of intelligence sources, analysis of both is an important process. It defines whether the type of sources gathered are in themselves a constraint to effectively applying the current intelligence analysis skills and therefore whether the objectives of the intelligence strategy need to be redefined to align the sourcing and processing of intelligence with the existing organisation skills.

Conversely one of the primary outcomes of an intelligence gap analysis is identifying the requirements for improving or augmenting the human and technological skills and techniques to make more effective use of the sources available through non-classified means.

The intelligence gap can therefore be characterised according to the impact it has on the decision-making capabilities:

1. A Strategic Gap has a major impact on the organisations fundamental ability to assess its operating environment; and therefore its options; and can lead to critical failure in strategy formulation & implementation.
2. A Tactical Gap has a major impact on the organisations fundamental ability to plan & assess its tactical options, define tactical initiatives, or measure and assess the success of tactical decisions.
3. An Operational Gap has a major impact on the organisations ability to devise action plans for operational implementation with confidence and certainty.

The intelligence gap can also be characterised according to its severity:

1. An acute gap represents a short term but critical gap in sourcing that can be quickly resolved with the appropriate remedial action
2. A chronic gap represents a long terms challenge which may vary in the degree of criticality and would tend to represent a longer term challenge or require a more significant sourcing solution
3. An innate or perennial gap represents a gap that has been accepted and alternative analytical or assessment methods are being employed to mitigate the absence of specific intelligence.

Intelligence Gap Chart

The intelligence gap analysis generates an action plan of priorities for improving and refining intelligence gathering, intelligence sources, analytic tools and analytic skills within the redefinition of the organisation’s Intelligence Strategy.

This is then carried into an Intelligence Management Planning phase where the intelligence strategy is translated into a plan for implementation, and monitoring & optimisation in the future.