intelligence cycle
Enable an AI agent to recognise, assess and support an intelligence cycle by tracing intelligence needs through collection, assessment, delivery and feedback while respecting uncertainty and authority.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
6 bundles · 11 layers · 17 findings · 32 questions
Requirements and cycle framing Connects the cycle's chosen formulation to the decisions and intelligence needs it serves.
Process formulation
Records the adopted account of the cycle and how it maps to actual work.
Declared cycle boundary
Record the selected formulation, its owner and the activities, iterations and handoffs included in this instance.
- Which formulation defines this intelligence cycle, and how does it name or combine its activities? definition
- Where does this cycle begin and end relative to continuing intelligence work and downstream decision execution? boundary
Decision-linked requirements
Makes the intended use, priority and sufficiency of intelligence explicit.
Answerable intelligence needs
Record what the consumer needs to know, why it matters, when it is needed and what would constitute a sufficient answer.
- Which decision, consumer and deadline does each intelligence requirement support? provenance
- What criteria distinguish an unanswered, partially answered and sufficiently answered requirement? measurement
- Who may reprioritise or withdraw a requirement when needs conflict or circumstances change? action
Collection tasking and gaps Relates missing knowledge to feasible, authorised collection and the material actually obtained.
Gap-to-task mapping
Turns unresolved requirements into collection proposals with explicit limits.
Justified collection tasks
Record the gap each task addresses, expected contribution, responsible collector, timing and authorisation.
- Which unresolved requirement or competing explanation would this collection task help resolve? definition
- What authority, access, resource and handling constraints govern the proposed collection? boundary
- Should the task proceed, be redirected or be cancelled given its expected contribution before the decision deadline? action
Collection return assessment
Evaluates what collection produced and which gaps remain.
Returns and residual gaps
Record collected material, its origin, relevant coverage and the limitations of unsuccessful or incomplete collection.
- What material was obtained, through which collection route, and with what known origin and acquisition time? provenance
- Which gaps remain, and does a missing observation reflect observed absence, inadequate coverage or collection failure? measurement
Processing and evidence lineage Tracks how acquired material becomes usable evidence without losing its origin or limitations.
Material transformation
Records processing and exploitation steps relevant to later interpretation.
Inspectable transformations
Record transformations such as translation, transcription, extraction or aggregation together with responsible methods and quality limitations.
- Which transformations produced this usable evidence item from the acquired material, and who or what performed them? provenance
- What ambiguity, omission or error could those transformations introduce into the subsequent assessment? measurement
Source dependence and access
Preserves distinctions among originating sources, reporting channels and accessible evidence.
Evidence origin and dependence
Record known or suspected common origins, source-access limitations and restrictions affecting verification or reuse.
- Which apparently separate reports share an originating source or repeat one another, and which relationships remain unknown? provenance
- Which evidence can the analyst inspect directly, and which must be assessed through summaries or restricted intermediaries? boundary
Analysis and judgment Connects evidence to qualified answers while exposing assumptions and competing explanations.
Evidence to explanation
Makes the reasoning behind intelligence judgments reviewable.
Supported and contested judgments
Record each key judgment, its supporting and conflicting evidence, inferential steps and material alternatives.
- Which statements are observations, assumptions, interpretations or forecasts, and how does each contribute to answering the requirement? definition
- What evidence supports or contradicts each material explanation, including evidence that may reflect deception or reporting bias? provenance
- What additional observation would most usefully discriminate between the remaining explanations? action
Uncertainty and review
Assesses the strength, sensitivity and review status of proposed intelligence conclusions.
Qualified assessment readiness
Record confidence, likelihood terminology where applicable, unresolved disagreements and the basis for releasing an assessment.
- How are confidence in evidential support and likelihood of an assessed event expressed and kept distinct? measurement
- Which assumptions or unresolved disagreements could materially change the key judgments? boundary
- Should the assessment be released with qualifications, undergo further review or trigger additional collection before its deadline? action
Dissemination, feedback and retasking Closes the connection between intelligence production and consumer needs while supporting correction and renewed work.
Authorised and timely delivery
Records the intelligence product, intended recipients and conditions of release.
Consumer-ready release
Record which version was delivered, its relevant time horizon, recipient permissions and whether qualifications survived presentation.
- Which recipients are authorised to receive this product, and what approval or sanitisation is required? action
- Did the relevant consumer receive the assessment before the decision deadline with its key uncertainties and limitations intact? measurement
Feedback and cycle renewal
Uses consumer response and subsequent evidence to determine the next state of the work.
Explicit revision or closure
Record requirement satisfaction, feedback, correction triggers and decisions to reopen, retask, supersede or close the cycle.
- What feedback establishes whether the intelligence answered the requirement, and whose assessment is it? provenance
- What new evidence, elapsed time or changed decision need requires reassessment or notification of previous recipients? action
- What justifies closure, and which unresolved gaps or monitoring obligations remain? boundary
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of intelligence cycle this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Kinds and varieties
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of intelligence cycle this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of intelligence cycle this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of intelligence cycle this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of intelligence cycle this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of intelligence cycle this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of intelligence cycle this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Activities and processes
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- ACT
- Domain
- ACT.PRC
What it is Filled
The intelligence cycle is an iterative framework for organizing the activities through which decision-makers' information requirements guide collection, processing, analysis, dissemination, and feedback to produce and refine intelligence.
In scope
- Intelligence requirements, intended decisions and priorities
- Collection tasking, coverage gaps and evidence intake
- Processing, exploitation and preservation of evidence lineage
- Analysis, uncertainty assessment and intelligence production
- Dissemination, consumer feedback and changes to requirements
Out of scope
- Detailed operation of individual collection sensors or platforms
- The complete structure and administration of intelligence organisations
- Domain models of the people, organisations or events being assessed
- Execution of policy, military or commercial decisions informed by intelligence
- Covert action and other operations that pursue effects beyond acquiring or assessing information
Why it exists Filled
Enable an AI agent to recognise, assess and support an intelligence cycle by tracing intelligence needs through collection, assessment, delivery and feedback while respecting uncertainty and authority.
Distinguishing features Filled
- An instance connects information work to an identifiable intelligence requirement and intended decision or consumer, rather than merely accumulating data.
- It distinguishes acquired information from assessed judgments and permits judgments to be traced to their evidential basis.
- It includes a route for feedback, collection gaps or changed circumstances to revise earlier work; a mandatory linear stage sequence is not the defining test.
- It extends across tasking, evidence handling, assessment and delivery, whereas an analytic technique or collection operation covers only part of that process.
- It declares the process variant being used so that differently named or combined stages can be compared without assuming one universal formulation.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Collect or compile information on individuals without lawful basis.
- Help target journalists, activists, opponents or minorities.
- Present analysis as fact without stating sources and confidence.
- Disseminate intelligence beyond those cleared to receive it.
Only with a human decision
- Setting collection requirements about specific people.
- Sharing intelligence products with other organizations or states.
May
- Explain the intelligence cycle as a framework from public sources.
- Support lawful analysis for an authorized organization using sources it may access.
Moral aspects Filled
- Intelligence work can protect people or be turned against them; oversight decides which.
- Errors in analysis have led to wrongful harm and wars.
Who is affected
- People under surveillance
- Decision-makers relying on the product
- The public
Owners Filled
Steward
The organization that runs the process, under the oversight its law provides.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q2692606 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.intelligence-cycle
- Wikidata: Q3268831 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3268831)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Cycle formulation: Named formulation or locally defined stages, with version and responsible authority
- Requirement-to-decision linkage: Links among intelligence requirements, consumers, intended decisions and decision deadlines
- Activity state: Per activity: not started, active, blocked, under review, completed or superseded
- Requirement coverage: Per requirement: unaddressed, partially addressed, provisionally answered or accepted as answered; with assessment criteria
- Time remaining to decision: Hours or days between assessment time and the relevant decision deadline
- Evidence lineage: Links from judgments to evidence items, originating sources and processing transformations
- Judgment confidence: Declared confidence scale with rationale, assessed separately for each key judgment
- Handling and release constraints: Applicable permissions, restrictions, recipients and approving authorities
- Feedback disposition: Awaiting feedback, accepted, clarification requested, retasking required, superseded or closed
Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
The intelligence cycle is an abstract process framework and cannot be identified by visual appearance.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Translate a decision need into prioritised intelligence requirements and explicit acceptance criteria.
- Identify evidence gaps and propose collection tasks within recorded authority and resource limits.
- Trace an assessment back through processing steps to supporting and conflicting evidence.
- Review alternative explanations and flag unsupported judgments or unexamined source dependence.
- Prepare a timely intelligence product for authorised recipients with uncertainty and limitations visible.
- Use consumer feedback or changed evidence to recommend retasking, revision, correction or closure.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Biased requirements and analysis confirm what decision-makers want to hear.
- Overbroad collection intrudes on the privacy of uninvolved people.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Intelligence Community Directive 203, issued by the United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence, establishes analytic standards for covered United States intelligence analysis.
Context of use required Filled
- The intelligence cycle organizes information work in security, defence, law enforcement and other decision-support settings.
- It connects information requirements with collection, processing, analysis and delivery, while feedback helps refine subsequent work.
- The framework is used to assign responsibilities and trace how evidence supports assessments without assuming that real work follows a rigid sequence.
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q3268831: intelligence cycle - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Intelligence cycle - general description of the item
Open questions
- Which authoritative formulations should be represented, and how should differences in stage boundaries and terminology be mapped without implying equivalence?
- How should a bounded cycle instance be identified within continuous, overlapping intelligence work serving several consumers?
- Which critiques of the cycle's adequacy should change the model, particularly where tasking, analysis and collection occur concurrently?
- Which requirement-satisfaction and timeliness measures are defensible across national-security, law-enforcement and commercial settings?
- Does an existing Vercy world model already cover this concept, requiring the registry entry to link to it instead of creating a separate publication?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q3268831/spec.json