November 1, 2006: The U.S. intelligence community has adapted the "Wikipedia" concept and software to create classified and unclassified "Intellipedia" systems for the intelligence community. Intelligence analysts have been enthusiastic users of Internet search, and some of them have been contributing (unofficially, and on unclassified subjects) to Wikipedia. So it did not take much effort to come up with a wiki for the intelligence community. Intellipedia uses the same software as Wikipedia.
The classified Intellipedia also contain a lot of information on projects, or even military operations, underway. The idea is not just to allow a lot of people to contribute to subjects of interest to a large audience, but to also get different opinions on intel subjects, and get them out in the open as well. The intelligence community has long been known for consisting of many different, and rather isolated, communities. Email, and classified Internet message boards, have broken down some of that isolation. "Intellipedia" not only breaks down the isolation further, but builds new relationships through shared work on subjects of common interest. So far, the classified version has 28,000 pages and 3,600 contributors. Soon, foreign nations will be given access to versions, based on the level of classified information we normally share (Canada, Australia and Britain would get to access the secret stuff.) But even the less classified versions could be shared with intelligence people from, say, China, which would enable Chinese and American intelligence experts to share ideas and opinions, and help avoid misunderstandings.
