Industry groups push to keep open-source measures in annual intelligence bill

A coalition of industry groups and former officials is asking Congress to preserve measures in the annual intelligence community authorization bill that support the use of open-source intelligence in U.S. spy agencies, according to letters first seen by Nextgov/FCW.

The missives are undersigned by firms like the Babel Street and the ANDECO Institute, which sell risk and threat intelligence services derived from commercially or publicly available information that’s not necessarily gathered through more covert means available to spy agencies. Graphika, which performs social media network analysis to identify disinformation campaigns, is also a signatory.

The measures, housed in Title 6 of the House Intelligence Committee’s version of the fiscal year 2026 Intelligence Authorization Act, are also supported by the OSINT Foundation, a professional association of open-source practitioners in the U.S. intelligence community. Former officials are also signatories, including Kristin Wood, who served as a deputy director in the CIA’s Open Source Center. 

Read more at NextGov/FCW