Intelligence and Security Informatics

Since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, academics have been called on for possible contributions to research relating to national (and possibly internat- nal) security. As one of the original founding mandates of the National Science Foundation, mid- to long-term national security research in the areas of inf- mation technologies, organizational studies, and security-related public policy is critically needed. In a way similar to how medical and biological research has faced signi?cant information overload and yet also tremendous opportunities for new inno- tion, law enforcement, criminal analysis, and intelligence communities are facing the same challenge. We believe, similar to 'medical informatics' and 'bioinf- matics,' that there is a pressing need to develop the science of 'intelligence and security informatics' - the study of the use and development of advanced information technologies, systems, algorithms and databases for national se- rity related applications,through an integrated technological,organizational,and policy-based approach. We believe active 'intelligence and security informatics' research will help improve knowledge discovery and dissemination and enhance information s- ring and collaboration across law enforcement communities and among aca- mics, local, state, and federal agencies, and industry. Many existing computer and information science techniques need to be reexamined and adapted for - tional security applications. New insights from this unique domain could result in signi?cant breakthroughs in new data mining, visualization, knowledge - nagement, and information security techniques and systems.