Private Sector Practice – Selected Products and Services

Technology and Company Investment Opportunity Intelligence

An increasingly critical element of business strategy is identifying, locating, and acquiring emerging and existing technologies that are right for business objectives, as well as finding attractive companies for acquisition or partnerships. The problem is that this activity can be time-consuming and labor intensive. Companies need reliable and quick ways to do this. What is required is a cost-effective, timely, accurate, and creative way to gain the best returns for the investigative and investment cost.

Intelligent Decision Partners provides innovative assistance to locate new technology and discover unknown technology players before others find them.  We locate candidates outside our clients’ normal universe and usual sourcing.  Not only do we identify attractive investment opportunities from around the world, we can also identify potentially disruptive technologies.  We identify hidden, overlooked, or ignored risks relative to opportunities, as well as a range of threats that can blindside our clients.  This helps create the complete picture needed to make accurate decisions or formulate well-informed acquisition or risk avoidance strategies and actions with the highest probability of success, and the lowest potential for failure.

Understanding Future US Government Technology Investment Trends

Our broad understanding of the US Government, and our close proximity to it, means we can support corporate investment strategies based upon discovery and understanding of emerging USG technology and program development requirements. The idea is to invest in or acquire companies with relevant core capabilities that are ahead of the curve, while it is relatively inexpensive to do so in order and reap the rewards. To facilitate this, we provide actionable intelligence concerning critical emerging USG technology and related program development requirements, matched with target companies that have requisite technologies available, or the wherewithal for their development, so that timely investment in or acquisition of these companies can take place before the wave occurs. Of course, this capability is also extremely valuable for corporations that wish to plan their own technology development and investment strategies.

A primary focus is on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Historically, DARPA has been an engine for significant technological innovation in the US.  Learning what directions DARPA Program Managers are heading in, perhaps several years in advance of program announcements would be extremely beneficial to private sector investment decision makers.  We also look at key national security investment players such as:

• Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency (IARPA)
• Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA)
• Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E)
• Technical Support Working Group (TSWG)
• In-Q-Tel (Intelligence Community Accelerator)

Based on client requirements, we can, for example, provide individual customized in-depth reports that focus on a particular government department or organization, or specific policy objectives that require technology solutions — and match these with corporate capabilities, based on customer generated evaluation metrics and criteria.  We can also provide quarterly reports on a subscription basis, based on customer needs.

Perception Insight

Using our Deep Discovery® and Pattern Analysis Process, we combine human intelligence with our business and government experience to do analyses of unusual depth and perception that determine how client organizations and their competitors are viewed by those who use their services, those that can fund them, or by the constituents they support. Since we are an independent third party, we are able to obtain information people will not give to you directly and do not filter the information, as people inside organizations are likely to do.  We can also guarantee anonymity for our sources.

This information is “hard data” that reflects the impact of your operations, tactics, and ultimately your strategy on your targets.  We analyze the information in the context of operations-tactics-strategy to provide either confirmation that all are optimal – or – make recommendations for improvement in these three areas of your organization’s functioning.

Federal Market Intelligence

We conduct global competitive and market intelligence.  Our Washington location, experience in the Washington arena, superior contacts and capabilities uniquely positions us to discover developments that will affect our client’s opportunity for success. We target funding opportunities by identifying and analyzing emerging government mission requirements and matching our client’s technologies and capabilities to meet those requirements.  Central to our success is an intelligence approach that targets both senior-most decision-makers as well as program managers and program implementers.

We can discover how the government perceives the client relative to its competitors.  This can lead to necessary changes in operations, tactics, or corporate strategy such as teaming or non-competing rather than a costly wasted effort.  The next step is to evaluate competitor strategies, and identify and analyze key internal and external issues and influencers that can impact decision outcomes.  Finally, we evaluate competitor strengths and weaknesses relative to client capabilities.  The result is market positioning and strategy that enables a higher probability of success.

Strategic Cultural Intelligence

Strategic Cultural Intelligence identifies and analyzes the interconnection and complex interplay of the geographic, historical, political, economic, cultural, military, and social drivers that, when combined, help predict how a country, region, group or enterprise is likely to act under external or internal incentives, influences, pressures or opportunities.

We provide our clients with Strategic Cultural Intelligence using our Risk Awareness Intelligence™ process, which focuses on the combination of factors that can negatively impact a strategy, program or plan.  We identify, analyze, and understand known risks.  But most importantly, we use Risk Awareness Intelligence™ to identify and analyze potential risks others do not see or are not thinking about, and future risks likely to affect operational strategy or tactics.  Our findings and recommendations are based on verifiable data.

We apply Risk Awareness Intelligence™ to provide threat and risk assessments, verifiable data, and scenario modeling.  Organizations can then use our findings to identify, evaluate, and manage the risks inherent in a region’s, country’s or enterprise’s changing political, economic, policymaking, and regulatory spaces.  Our sources include in-region current or former industry leaders, recognized public figures, and academics so we provide customized and proactive open source international research and analytical products when others come up empty handed.

Open Source Intelligence Training

We offer intelligence training and related activities in association with the renowned Intelligence and Security Academy. Training modules can be designed for half day or longer sessions, with in-depth follow on courses.

Modules concentrate on how you first think about what you are being asked to answer – how you formulate the right questions – and how you search for open source intelligence based on your requirements.  We show you how to have a process in place that ensures that you understand exactly what you are being asked for – or even better – that you have a process in place that allows you to anticipate your intelligence needs.

We then focus on tools for collection across each of the intelligence collection disciplines, and discuss analytical methodologies designed to optimize the production of actionable intelligence.  All of this is designed to be customer-based, focusing on the customer’s unique intelligence needs.  Specific modules include:

• Open Source as All-Source Intelligence
• Technology Intelligence
• Risk Awareness Intelligence and Risk Management
• Creating Actionable Intelligence Products
• Capability Surprise Analysis

We can also help organizations establish their own in-house Open Source Intelligence capability if that is desired.