Technical, Social & Legal Barriers to Effective Information Sharing Among Sensitive Organizations

While millions of dollars have been invested in information technologies to improve intelligence information sharing among law enforcement agencies at the Federal, Tribal, State and Local levels, there remains a hesitation to share information between agencies. This lack of coordination hinders the ability to prevent and respond to crime and terrorism. Work to date has not produced solutions nor widely accepted paradigms for understanding the problem. Therefore, to enhance the current intelligence information sharing services between government entities, we have identified three major problem areas; Technical, Social, and Legal. Furthermore, we have developed a preliminary model and theory of intelligence information sharing through a literature review, experience and interviews with practitioners in the field. This model and theory should serve as a basic conceptual framework for further academic work and lead to further investigation and clarification of the identified factors and the degree of impact they exert on the system so that actionable solutions can be identified and implemented