The CIA Is Going 2.0

The whole concept of going 2.0 is pretty much sweeping the nation. Antique stores are going 2.0, Amish communities have 2.0 farm equipment, and now finally the CIA has finally given into the craze. The idea behind ‘web 2.0′ is bringing the experience of shaping the web to everyone. Anyone can make a blog these days, and post information, or hateful speech. The particular aspect of 2.0 that the CIA is looking into, is the idea of Wikipedia, and wiki pages.

The second word in CIA is what the organization is all about; ‘information’. Sharing this information with various other government organizations is one of the most important functions of the CIA. What better way to share information than on a wiki page. The wiki software being implemented by the CIA is called Intellipedia. 16 different government organizations have access to Intellipedia, and so far it has been a big hit. Before this wiki software, information was transferred via email, and was unreliable at times.

Intellipedia is different than Wikipedia, and other wiki pages in that there is no anonymity. Everyone that posts something is listed as the author. This is definitely a good thing, considering the information is for the protection of our country. So you want to make sure the information is viable.

Some of the hurdles that Intellipedia faces is cultural challenges. Making sure that everyone can understand what is being shared. Probably the most dangerous obstacle of all is security. The more open, and accessible you make information, the more of a chance you have of it falling into the wrong hands.

I just think it’s humorous that the CIA is going the way of the ‘wiki’. I wonder if we will see a CIA Facebook in the near future, with agents zombie biting other agents, and sending them ‘The Good Shepard’ movie quizzes.