RECOBIA - Final Conference - The human factor in intelligence

Final Conference

Event venue:

Brussels, Belgium (TBC)

Event date(s):

Friday, 23 January, 2015

Click here to register

Dear colleagues,

We are very pleased to invite you to the final event of the FP7-SEC RECOBIA project. The objective of the project is to reduce the negative impact of cognitive biases on intelligence analysis.

The event will take place on:

Friday, 23 January 2015

from 9.00 to 17.15

Brussels (Belgium)

The conference is free of charge. Registration is mandatory.

Context

Intelligence analysis is foremost a cognitive activity and requires a comprehensive understanding of the workings of the human mind. At this event we will present the cognitive dimensions of intelligence analysis and give answers to questions such as:

What are the cognitive dimensions in the Intelligence Officer’s job?
What are the unconscious deviations of judgment that can influence and affect the work of analysts?
How do automated unconscious cognitive processes influence the work of analysts?
How can unwanted cognitive effects be mitigated?

In the last three years of the project we organised six workshops with end-users from various European intelligence services. In total, more than 100 end-users representing 21 national agencies and 5 European Institutions attended one or multiple workshops, where they contributed to the research, provided input and feedback and validated our findings:

7 Key Intelligence Tasks (KITs) have been identified. KITs are a concept developed during the RECOBIA project. KITs are tasks that every intelligence officer performs on a daily basis and that are generic from a cognitive as well as from an intelligence point of view.
29 cognitive biases that are particularly prone to affect Intelligence Officers in these Key Intelligence tasks have been identified and documented
40 specific situations to illustrate the impact and effects of these cognitive biases
1 scenario will be presented that illustrates the effects of cognitive biases and their mitigation strategies in the every day work of intelligence analysts.
Mitigation strategies have been identified to face the negative impacts of these unconscious cognitives deviations.

Programme

09.00 - 09.30: Welcome Coffee

09.30 - 10.00: Presentation of the RECOBIA project (objectives, methodology, partners)

10.00 - 11.00: Intelligence analysis: a cognitive activity

11.00 - 11.30: Coffee Break

11.30 - 12.30: Cognitive biases as unconscious and universal mechanisms

12.30 - 13.30: Lunch

13.30 - 14.30: Illustrative scenario : understanding cognitive biases in the intelligence context

14.30 - 15.30: Mitigation strategies

15.30 - 16.00: Coffee Break

16.00 - 16.15: Presentation of RECOPEDIA

16.15 - 16.30: Presentation of Cognitive Biases Explorer (CBE)

16.30 - 17.00: End-user’s feedback on the project’s research and findings (Lt Cdr Tim Dickens RN for UK MoD)

17.00 - 17.15: Conclusion

17.15: End of conference

We are looking forward to welcoming you to this event!

Best regards,

The RECOBIA project team