There are many issues associated with the IC's ability to counter threats, balance its resources, and use those resources wisely. Some issues are agency centric—affecting a single agency—such as the NSA's encryption concerns. They impact the DNI's ability to horizontally integrate the IC agencies (often referred to as "stovepipes") so that the IC operates effectively as one team. This report focuses on eight issues associated with the horizontal leadership and management of the IC. These cross-cutting issues include: (1) the IC budget process, (2) analysis, (3) big data, (4) diversity, (5) global coverage, (6) continuous evaluation, (7) polygraphs, and (8) transparency. They were chosen because they affect a number of agencies and are widely discussed by professionals within and external to the IC (and are not so complex that they need their own separate report). The following section briefly describes several relevant aspects of the IC important to understanding the issues being examined: 17 elements (or components) of the IC; two key leadership positions—the Director of National Intelligence and the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; key agency overseers—the Inspectors General; the national and military intelligence budget programs; and the National Intelligence Strategy. Efforts to address cross-cutting issues can be hampered by difficulties associated with managing the IC's confederation of separately managed component parts. Surprises are often termed intelligence 'failures' and thus, the issue of how to improve analysis is, and may always be, a focus for reform efforts. (Several of these initiatives are discussed in greater detail later in this report.) What is the IC doing to improve recruitment, education, and retention of its best analysts? The IC Information Technology Enterprise (IC ITE, pronounced "eyesight") is an initiative focused on many of the challenges associated with big data. Diversity

Diversity was selected because initiatives designed to attract and retain a diverse workforce have been recurring themes in intelligence-related legislation and IC policy directives over the past decade. How is progress being measured? Global coverage is a concept used to describe the IC's need to prepare for and respond to any and all crises and threats—worldwide. A current issue from a privacy and civil liberties perspective is the expanded use of publicly available data when reviewing the backgrounds of security clearance holders. The type of examination required varies within agencies and between agencies. Are the new principles of transparency sufficient? While all eight are different in many ways, they are similar in that they shine a light on important questions in common that can applied to oversight of other IC-wide cross-cutting issues. Best Practices ? Integration? Privacy and Civil Liberties? Trust ? Intelligence Community Principles of Transparency

"The Intelligence Community Will:
Provide appropriate transparency to enhance public understanding about:
the IC's mission and what the IC does to accomplish it (including its structure and effectiveness);
the laws, directives, authorities, and policies that govern the IC's activities; and
the compliance and oversight framework that ensures intelligence activities are conducted in accordance with applicable rules.
This report focuses on cross-cutting management issues that affect the Intelligence Community's (IC's) ability to counter "pervasive and emerging threats" to the United States and balance resources both appropriately and wisely. As the IC's senior manager, these issues ultimately fall within the Director of National Intelligence's (DNI's) area of responsibility. The DNI is charged with integrating the community of intelligence agencies so that they operate effectively as one team.
There are no easy solutions to the challenges examined in this report. The IC's efforts to demonstrate progress are hampered by difficulties such as the IC's diffuse structure—a confederation of separately managed component parts; the unique demands of operating in secret; the interrelationships between many issues; and diminishing resources.
The issues selected for examination in this report were chosen because they affect a number of agencies and are widely discussed by professionals within and external to the IC (and are not so complex that they need their own separate report).
1. Budget. Are the resources in the IC budget (the national and military intelligence programs) managed and balanced appropriately to meet the needs of every agency and the IC mission as a whole? 2. Analysis. The heart and soul of the intelligence function; analysis is the responsibility of every IC agency. How to improve analysis is an enduring focus of reform efforts. 3. "Big Data." The IC Information Technology Enterprise (IC ITE) is a major initiative focused on many of the challenges and opportunities associated with the current ocean of available information. How well is the IC putting vast amounts of unstructured data to valuable use? 4. Diversity. New initiatives designed to improve diversity in the entire IC workforce have been a recurring theme in intelligence-related legislation and IC policy directives over the past decade. Can anything else be done? 5. Global coverage. The IC's need to prepare for and respond to any and all crises and threats—worldwide—is referred to as global coverage. Do expectations about what the IC can and should cover need be adjusted? 6. Continuous Evaluation (CE). The expanded use of publicly available data when reviewing the backgrounds of a security clearance holder is the new standard for all IC agencies. What is the CE issue from a privacy and civil liberties perspective? 7. Polygraphs. Although polygraphs are required by every agency, their reliability and validity are questionable. As the IC moves toward CE, are they still necessary? 8. Transparency. What more can be done IC-wide to enhance public understanding of intelligence activities through greater transparency while still protecting national security?
While the eight issues are different in many ways, they are similar in that they shine a light on important questions that can be applied to any IC issue in terms of balance, best practices, integration, privacy and civil liberties, transparency, and trust.