Mission Integration

The Intelligence and National Security Foundation (INSF) hosted “Mission Integration,” the third and final webinar of the three-part, Future of the IC Workforce multimedia campaign on September 6^th. Underwritten by Avantus, the webinar featured Nic Adams, SSCI Staffer; Nitin Natarajan, Deputy Director of CISA; and Kristin Wood, CEO of Grist Mill Exchange; and moderator, Lindy Kyzer, Director of Content at ClearanceJobs.com. 

Session recording courtesy of series underwriter Avantus

Starting the conversation, DDIR Natarajan outlined that mission integration now must include cyber and physical threats in the same conversation. CISA is in a unique spot to undertake bringing the two worlds together, as their status of not being law enforcement, DoD, or in the IC.  Kristin Wood further discussed challenges to mission integration from the private industry viewpoint. She detailed how important it is for industry to understand the gaps and see where industry can support government partners, especially regarding complex mission sets. The conversation then moved to the importance of the Hill as the overarching, unifying element, where industry and government can get educated and tie pieces together to get after the common adversary.

The panelists then spoke on the importance of proper integration in protecting data and sharing information to protect networks. Kristin Wood advocated for continuing the conversation on “what is the national security community” as a way ahead to include untraditional companies and industries, such as battery and chip manufacturers, in the conversation. Each panelist spoke on the challenge the availability of large amounts of data pose, especially in ensuring the speed of collection and dissemination of accurate information reaches decision makers and warfighters at the speed of relevance. Nic Adams elaborated on the important role congressional oversights plays in providing the IC and private sector the right resources and authorizations to stay ahead of the threat.

In conclusion, the panelists sounded off on the importance of advanced analytic tools, but also the methods, safety, and protection of processing the data that feeds the tools. DDIR Natarajan noted that the upcoming generation is technically savvy but must also become cyber savvy. The future of the workforce must understand the importance of data protection and constitute intellectually and experiential diverse personnel to speed up capabilities and create stronger partnerships.