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United States Intelligence Community

500 DAY PLAN

INTEGRATION AND COLLABORATION
INTRODUCTION

The United States is challenged by many different and evolving threats, including

enemies with many faces and no borders – terrorism, weapons of mass destruction,

proliferation, infectious diseases, cyber attacks, and illegal trafficking. The

Intelligence Community (IC) is adjusting to meet this new complex threat

environment and adapt to the new strategic context in which it now operates. To 

do so, the IC must have people, process and technology that provide seamless 

integration and cross-agency collaboration. The 500 Day Plan for Integration 

and Collaboration continues to build the foundation to enable the IC to work as 

a single, integrated enterprise so we can collaborate across critical missions, 

enhance our support to a wide range of customers and partners, contribute to 

our national security priorities, and reduce the risks that the nation faces today 

and in the future.

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To promote our vision of a more integrated and collaborative IC, we initiated a deliberate 

planning process based on the principles of transparency and accountability, bound by a set

of deadlines and deliverables. We recently completed the first phase – the 100 Day Plan for 

Integration and Collaboration – designed to accelerate the execution of the National Intelligence 

Strategy (NIS) through specific initiatives that build the foundation for transformation. We 

are now beginning the next phase – the 500 Day Plan for Integration and Collaboration

– designed to sustain and accelerate our momentum with an expanded set of initiatives and 

wider IC participation. The 500 Day Plan focuses on six areas:

1. Create a Culture of Collaboration

2. Accelerate Information Sharing 

3. Foster Collection and Analytic Transformation 

4. Build Acquisition Excellence and Technology Leadership 

5. Modernize Business Practices

6. Clarify and Align DNI’s Authorities

These six focus areas contain both “core” and “enabling” initiatives – all of which build on the 

efforts we began under the 100 Day Plan to deepen integration of the Community’s people,

processes, and technologies. The “core” initiatives allow senior leadership to focus their

attention on the most critical transformational efforts, while the “enabling” initiatives

are key to achieving our vision of an integrated Intelligence Enterprise. The IC will work

collaboratively to execute the 500 Day Plan through cross-organizational working groups for 

each initiative, demonstrating the collaboration that is essential for our success.

Our focus must be on action and change. I am encouraged by our progress so far, and I anticipate 

that the work ahead of us will yield even greater success. The result of these initiatives will 

promote a Community that is committed to excellence and innovation, one that collaborates 

as a standard way of doing business. The American people and our national security leaders 

expect and deserve nothing less.

Director of National Intelligence

October 10, 2007

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How the Intelligence Community’s 500 Day Plan for

Integration and Collaboration Will Support National Security

The 500 Day Plan for Integration and Collaboration supports national security by linking the intelligence enterprise to 

its customers by optimizing the operating systems in support of the IC missions. The plan helps all IC members move 

through the critical steps of change to ensure barriers to collaboration are removed, cross-organizational relationships

are nurtured, and strategies are aligned and tied to budget and performance.

The following diagram illustrates how initiatives within the 500 Day Plan drive mission performance, improve

customer service, and help implement the National Security Strategy (NSS). The 500 Day Plan initiatives, which respond 

to NIS objectives, help integrate the IC enterprise. Improving integration removes the barriers that degrade mission 

performance, creating the conditions for cross-agency collaboration by the IC’s “best and brightest” on current and 

emerging mission needs. The results of mission performance meet the needs of the IC’s customers, whose actions 

support the National Security Strategy. Implementing the 500 Day Plan drives integration and fosters collaboration, 

ultimately leading to better mission performance.

Acquisition

Planners

Policy Makers Homeland

Security

Law

Enforcement

Commanders

CUSTOMER-ORIENTED PARTNERSHIPS

Penetrate

Hard Targets

Defeat

Terrorism MISSION-FOCUSED RESULTS

SUPPORT

NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY

500 DAY PLAN

Mission Management

Collection

and Operations

Analysis

and Production

Processing and Exploitation

Collection and Analytic

Transformation

ALIGN

PARTNER

COLLABORATE

COORDINATE

INTEGRATE

Technology and

Acquisition

People

and Culture

Information

Sharing

Policy

Business

Process

FOUNDATION

FOR TRANSFORMATION

Bolster

Democracies

INTEGRATED MISSION OPERATIONS

Freedom Democracy

Security Prosperity

Support

Our Customers

Focus on

the Mission

Remove

the Barriers

Prevent Spread

of WMD

Anticipate

Developments and

Find Opportunities
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Focus Areas, Core Initiatives and Enabling Initiatives

Directly Support the National Intelligence Strategy

Core initiatives are called out as particularly transformational because they will be vital in driving the community 

through this cycle; enabling initiatives further address NIS Enterprise Objectives.

Enabling Initiatives

1A Formalize National Intelligence University

1B Improve Recruiting, Hiring and Retention of Heritage 

Americans (1st and 2nd Generation Americans)

1C Develop an Intelligence Enterprise Exercise Program

1D Improve Foreign Language Capability

1E Strengthen Recruiting Relationships with Colleges

and Universities

1F Complete Design, Begin Deployment of an

IC Performance-Based Pay System

1G Catalog and Connect IC Human Resource Capabilities

2A Create a Single Information Environment

2B Implement Attribute-Based Access and Discovery

2C Provide Collaborative Information Technology

to Non-IC Partners

2D Establish a Single Community Classification Guide

3A Develop Common Standards and Guidance

for HUMINT Activities

3B Strengthen Foreign Intelligence Relationships

3C Expand Hard Target Integrated Collection Strategies

3D Develop IC-Wide Collection Management Tools

3E Strengthen Analytic Tradecraft Across the Community

3F Improve and Expand Use of the National Intelligence 

Priorities Framework

3G Strengthen Science and Technology Analysis Capabilities

4A Build an IC Technology Transition Plan

4B Complete the Stand-up of the Intelligence Advanced 

Research Projects Activity

4C Establish a Systems Engineering and Architecture Group

4D Develop an Agile Acquisition Requirements Process

5A Analyze and Improve IC Relationships with Clients

5B Collaborate to Protect Privacy and Civil Liberties

5C Identify a Common Core Human Resources

Information System

5D Improve the IT Certification and Accreditation Process

6A Define Director of Defense Intelligence

Authorities, Roles and Responsibilities

6B Update DoD Intelligence Agency Charters 

6C Develop a Capstone IC Doctrine and Lexicon

6D Foster Integration and Collaboration in the IC Legal Community

6E Harmonize IC Policy on “U.S. Person” Information

6F Revise and Enhance the National Intelligence Policy Process

6G Submit Annual Intelligence Authorization Act Proposal

Core Initiatives

* Treat Diversity as a

Strategic Mission Imperative

* Implement Civilian IC Joint 

Duty Program

* Enhance Intelligence

Information Sharing Policies, 

Processes, and Procedures

* Create Collaborative

Environment for All Analysts

* Establish National Intelligence 

Coordination Center

* Implement Acquisition

Improvement Plan

* Modernize the Security

Clearance Process

* Align Strategy, Budget, and 

Capabilities through a Strategic

Enterprise Management System

* Update Policy Documents 

Clarifying and Aligning

IC Authorities

FOCUS

AREAS

Create a

Culture of

Collaboration

Accelerate

Information

Sharing

Foster

Collection

and Analytic

Transformation

Build

Acquisition

Excellence and 

Technology 

Leadership

Modernize

Business

Practices

Clarify and

Align DNI’s

Authorities

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.
PROBLEM | Historically, cross-agency linkages within the IC and among personnel 

have been too limited. The means for effective collaboration were not systematically 

addressed. Without the relationships engendered by inter-agency developmental 

experiences, IC personnel have not fully developed the mutual trust or the informationsharing networks that enable a common IC culture of collaboration. In today’s 

environment, the wide array of intelligence professionals with varied backgrounds 

and experiences need to work together with greater access and agility and

collaborate on improvements and mission critical problems as a matter of course to

achieve superior results. 

APPROACH | These initiatives are designed to help build a collaborative culture for 

the IC - a culture that develops a diverse workforce with a common understanding

of collaboration, and one that sustains and promotes incentives for collaboration 

across boundaries.

Impact of a Collaborative IC Culture

• Analysts, collectors, and others who have cross-Community 

 experience collaborate more frequently, and more productively

• With collaboration as a “force multiplier,” capabilities and skills increase 

 in cultural, linguistic, technical, and other mission critical areas

• New IC-wide performance evaluation system develops, reinforces,

 and rewards individual competencies such as collaboration,

 information sharing, technical excellence and contribution to mission

• The growing cadre of diverse personnel working collaboratively generates 

 the intelligence products and services that clients highly value

• Joint Duty assignments are highly sought after because they are

mutually beneficial to the organizations and key to professional

 development and advancement

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 Core Initiatives

* Treat Diversity as a Strategic Mission Imperative

* Implement Civilian IC Joint Duty Program

 Enabling Initiatives

1A Formalize National Intelligence University

1B Improve Recruiting, Hiring and Retention of Heritage Americans

 (1st and 2nd Generation Americans)

1C Develop an Intelligence Enterprise Exercise Program

1D Improve Foreign Language Capability

1E Strengthen Recruiting Relationships with Colleges and Universities

1F Complete Design, Begin Deployment of an IC Performance-Based

 Pay System

1G Catalog and Connect IC Human Resource Capabilities

FOCUS AREA 1:Create a Culture of Collaboration
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Core Initiative

Treat Diversity as a

Strategic Mission Imperative

Issue: To combat increasingly complex threats to our

nation, the IC must employ, develop, and retain a 

dynamic, agile workforce that reflects diversity in its 

broadest context — cultural background, language 

capability, ethnicity, race, gender, and expertise. Although

we have continued to make modest improvements 

over the years, we must to accelerate our progress. 

We cannot rely on “business-as-usual” practices. We 

need to have an IC workforce that looks like America 

and can operate in a global threat environment. 

Description: Consistent with Section 1011 of the 2004 

Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act

(IRTPA), this initiative will “ensure that the personnel 

of the Intelligence Community are sufficiently diverse 

for purposes of the collection and analysis of intelligence 

through the recruitment and training of women,

minorities, and individuals with diverse ethnic, cultural,

and linguistic backgrounds.” This initiative continues 

the effort introduced in the IC-wide Equal Employment

and Opportunity and Diversity (EEOD) Cross-Cutting

Emphasis Area Plan (CCEAP). This strategic plan was 

signed by the DNI on July 16, 2007 and distributed 

throughout the IC. This new initiative for the 500 Day 

Plan focuses on implementation mechanisms.

Key Milestones and Results

• Design mechanisms to hold IC leaders 

 accountable for excellence in EEO and diversity 

 management in concert with the IC Chief 

Human Capital Officer (CHCO) policies

• Assist in workforce planning to increase 

 diversity representation

• Improve the IC’s ability to recruit, hire, 

 develop, and retain a diverse workforce

• Promote career development and advancement 

 to ensure all IC employees have the opportunity 

 to realize their full potential 

How We Will Gauge Success

• Continual improvement in the representation, 

 recruitment, hiring, development, and retention 

 of minorities, women, and persons with disabilities, 

 including employees of various heritages, 

e.g., first- and second-generation Americans

Impact of Diversity

A diverse IC workforce is a competitive advantage

for the IC in combating complex threats. Innovative

approaches to meeting the DNI’s vision and direction

for promoting diversity provides an IC workforce

continuously reflecting global trends and cultures.

Core Initiative

Implement Civilian IC Joint Duty Program

Issue: The cross-cutting problems facing our Community

today require professionals and leaders with an

understanding and awareness of the entire IC. Senior 

leaders need experience and established relationships

beyond a single agency. The IRTPA called for 

“mechanisms to facilitate the rotation of personnel

of the Intelligence Community through various

elements of the Intelligence Community in the course 

of their careers in order to facilitate the widest possible

understanding by such personnel of the variety of

intelligence requirements, methods, users, and

capabilities.” To achieve this level of experience, we 

must help employees gain an enterprise-wide perspective; 

cultivate cross-organizational networks; provide for 

easier information sharing; and ultimately develop 

and deploy leaders who understand the scope and 

complexity of the IC so they can effectively integrate 

the Community’s resources. 

Description: Make Joint Duty a reality. The Joint Duty 

program provides rotational opportunities for civilian 

IC professionals, as a prerequisite for senior rank. As 

part of this initiative, a companion Joint Leadership 

Development Program (JLDP) is designed, developed, 

and begins to deliver and reinforce Joint Duty experiences. 

It also ensures that senior leaders gain a Communitywide focus.

Key Milestones and Results

• Expand the number of Joint Duty opportunities 

• Develop and launch a Joint Duty website

 and database

• Design and execute a Joint Leadership

 Development Program 

How We Will Gauge Success

• Ensure comparable promotion rates among

 IC personnel with Joint Duty experience

• Develop and deploy a Joint Leadership

 Development Program

• Ensure that a majority of new senior civilian

officers have Joint Duty experience

Impact of the Joint Duty Program

An IC professional/leadership corps that has strong 

inter-agency experiences and information sharing 

relationships, allowing the IC to quickly identify and 

leverage unique skills and insights from across the

IC and bring them to bear against complex threats.
PROBLEM | Collection, analysis, and dissemination of information are critical

to the IC, and fundamental for producing intelligence. We must move from a

“need to know” culture that is ingrained within the IC, toward a “responsibility 

to provide” mindset, where intelligence collectors view themselves as intelligence 

stewards and providers, not data owners. The 9/11 Commission cited information 

flow as an essential issue, stating in its report that this paradigm “...implicitly 

assumes that the risk of inadvertent disclosure outweighs the benefits of wider

sharing. Those Cold War assumptions are no longer appropriate.” The rules,

mechanisms, and practices that govern sharing need to be adjusted. 

APPROACH | Intelligence information sharing must strike the right balance

between the benefits of making information available to operators and analysts 

to better inform decision makers, and the risk that unauthorized disclosure of

sensitive information could jeopardize sources, methods, endanger civil liberties, 

or reveal our intentions to adversaries. IC information sharing success relies on 

achieving four goals:

• Institute uniform information sharing policy and governance

• Advance universal information discovery and retrieval

• Establish common trust environment

• Enhance collaboration across the Community 

Impact of an Information Sharing Environment

• Shared information leads to deeper knowledge

• The IC provides better and more timely intelligence

 to the nation’s leaders and defenders of the homeland

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 Core Initiative

* Enhance Intelligence Information Sharing

 Policies, Processes, and Procedures

 Enabling Initiatives

2A Create a Single Information Environment

2B Implement Attribute-Based Access and Discovery

2C Provide Collaborative Information Technology to Non-IC Partners

2D Establish a Single Community Classification Guide

FOCUS AREA 2:Accelerate Information Sharing
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Core Initiative

Enhance Intelligence Information Sharing

Policies, Processes, and Procedures

Issue: Institutional rules and legacy culture continue to hamper effective information sharing. There are outdated 

policy, customs, and technical constraints on information access and dissemination that impede the production of 

finished products our customers require. The 9/11 Commission found that building a trusted information network 

required leadership because “the policy and legal issues are harder than the technical ones.” 

Description: This initiative develops and coordinates policies consistent with current information sharing legislation 

and the DNI’s stated priority of creating a “responsibility to provide” culture. It provides unified information sharing policy 

and guidance governing the “responsibility to provide” mindset to clarify ambiguities and eliminate constraints on 

broad sharing of all forms of information used to develop timely and actionable intelligence. 

Key Milestones and Results

• Update Intelligence Information Sharing Policy

• Improve access to Sensitive Compartmentalized

 Information (SCI) – provide overarching

 Intelligence Information Sharing Policy

• Implement a “responsibility to provide” pilot

 for mission managers, assess lessons learned and

 identify recommendations for follow-up action

• Establish an Awareness, Arbitration, and Adjudication

 Function through access and dissemination policy,

 guidance, and procedures

How We Will Gauge Success

• IC information is more accessible and

 appropriately protected

• Analysts and collectors have better access

 to the information they need

• Awareness of rules governing information sharing 

• Effective dispute resolution process

Impact of Enhanced Information Sharing

Policies, Processes and Procedures

Improved sharing environment. Increased awareness, access, and discovery, to relevant intelligence information.

Increased insight into, oversight of, and response to consumer-identified requirements for access to controlled

programs. Community-level coordination, arbitration, and adjudication.
PROBLEM | The sheer volume of information available to analysts today — through 

clandestine and open sources — makes it exceedingly difficult to find the key pieces 

from which accurate conclusions can be drawn. Greater pressure is placed on the 

analytic community because policymakers are making decisions at an accelerating 

pace and their demands for information in-depth are growing as well. Also, the

existing environment makes it difficult to share information and collaborate on issues 

— capabilities that are critical for producing the best intelligence analysis. 

APPROACH | The Collection and Analytic Transformation strategy is multifaceted. 

The Community must start with a common, shared view of intelligence priorities,

and an ability to manage collection and analysis activities as an integrated

enterprise focused on the highest priorities. The creation of a National Intelligence 

Coordination Center will provide such a capability. Key to our approach is providing

analytic direction to collection. The Community must devise innovative ways 

of penetrating the most difficult targets and filling in the unknowns of greatest

importance to our most senior customers. The IC must also strengthen our HUMINT 

and foreign partner relationships, make the best use of open sources, and strengthen 

science and technology analysis capabilities in the Community. Finally, the Community 

must evaluate the quality of its analytic products and take steps to improve quality 

whenever tradecraft standards are not met.

Impact of a Transformed Analytic and Collection Capability

• More insightful intelligence that fully exploits available information

• Collection that is aligned with national priorities

• Expanded collection and analytic collaboration with foreign partners

• Enhanced capability to manage the IC as an integrated collection

 and analysis enterprise

• Reduced information overload, increased collaboration and facilitated 

 information sharing

• Analysts empowered to collaborate and drive collection

• Customer satisfaction with intelligence products is improved

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 Core Initiatives

* Create Collaborative Environment for All Analysts

* Establish National Intelligence Coordinating Center

 Enabling Initiatives

3A Develop Common Standards and Guidance for HUMINT Activities

3B Strengthen Foreign Intelligence Relationships

3C Expand Hard Target Integrated Collection Strategies

3D Develop IC-Wide Collection Management Tools

3E Strengthen Analytic Tradecraft Across the Community

3F Improve and Expand Use of the National Intelligence Priorities Framework 

3G Strengthen Science and Technology Analysis Capabilities

FOCUS AREA 3:Foster Collection and Analytic Transformation
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Core initiative

Create Collaborative

Environment for All Analysts

Issue: Cultural, bureaucratic, or other barriers impede 

the flow of analysis and information. Individual Community 

organizations cannot meet some of these challenges 

separately. Individual organizations cannot ensure 

that officers are aware of sensitive information they 

need to do their jobs. Analysts cannot effectively tap 

Community data, knowledge, and expertise when 

deadlines are too short for traditional forms of

coordination and collaboration. For collectors, assessing 

the significance of newly obtained information often 

depends on relating it to non-disseminated fragments 

in other data repositories. The WMD Report warns 

that “collaboration must replace fragmentation as the 

analytic community’s primary characteristic.” 

Description: Provide pilot operations that enable the 

Community to evolve new work practices, services, 

and measures to enhance analytic information sharing 

and collaboration. Provide analysts with access to a 

consolidated repository containing IC-disseminated 

intelligence products. Analysts can then discover the 

most comprehensive view of the critical expertise 

and relevant information on any topic. An analytic

collaboration environment supports “live” knowledge 

bases, providing an ability to identify and exchange 

critical insights with other experts working on similar 

topics, and quantitative measures of effectiveness.

Key Milestones and Results

• Initial Operating Capability (IOC) for Library 

 of National Intelligence and A-Space

• Analytic Resources Catalog

 (ARC) Improvements

• Rapid Analytic Support and Expeditionary 

 Response (RASER) Improvement Concept

 of Operations

How We Will Gauge Success

• Creation of a repository for intelligence products 

• Increased interaction and collaboration among 

 analysts across Community organizations

• Sufficient use to assess the impact

Impact of a Collaborative Environment

Improved collaboration and information sharing

resulting in better intelligence analysis, reduced

information overload, and enhanced early detection of 

critical new data. The full capabilities of the IC will be 

brought to bear in collaborative all-source analysis.

Core initiative

Establish National Intelligence

Coordination Center

Issue: The DNI needs a more effective and efficient 

means to direct collection assets against standing and 

emergent U.S. strategic intelligence priorities. 

Description: This initiative establishes the National

Intelligence Coordination Center (NIC-C) through which 

the DNI can direct and integrate collection activities

of all national, defense and domestic intelligence

organizations, along with all necessary supporting IC, 

Department of Defense, and domestic personnel and 

capabilities. Ensures that standing and emergent U.S. 

strategic intelligence priorities are met.

Key Milestones and Results

• NIC-C concept design

• NIC-C IOC

• NIC-C Full Operational Capability (FOC)

How We Will Gauge Success

• Coordination decisions and collection

 actions fully meet changing strategic

 intelligence priorities

Impact of NIC-C

Provides the DNI with a mechanism to optimize

collection to satisfy the country’s most important

intelligence priorities.
PROBLEM | During the Cold War, the IC leveraged science and technology to 

develop and acquire cutting-edge intelligence capabilities that allowed us to

observe and penetrate the activities of our adversaries. Our acquisition processes 

need to continue exploiting emerging technology breakthroughs, especially since 

the capabilities of our adversaries are evolving rapidly, driving legacy technology 

into obsolescence. 

APPROACH | We must build an acquisition process that responds to national 

mission needs and quickly identifies, develops, delivers, and upgrades high impact 

technologies. Through the newly formed Intelligence Advanced Research Projects 

Activity (IARPA) the IC will be provided with expertise in advanced innovation and 

take risks for high gain that individual agencies by themselves cannot undertake. 

Our systems engineering capability will ensure that innovations contribute to longrange, shared architectures that generate synergy and avoid duplication. At the 

same time, we will develop revised acquisition processes through which IC projects 

can be executed with less delay and uncertainty, taking full advantage of America’s 

technological talent. We will place special attention on transitioning technologies 

into programs whose benefits are fully aligned with shared mission needs.

Impact of Achieving Acquisition Excellence

• Major acquisition milestones occur without delays 

• The IC, through integrated strategy, systems architecture,

 and investment in innovation, exploits the full value of

America’s scientific and technological prowess to counter

 the most challenging adversaries

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 Core Initiative

* Implement Acquisition Improvement Plan

 Enabling Initiatives

4A Build an IC Technology Transition Plan

4B Complete the Stand-up of the Intelligence Advanced Research

 Projects Activity

4C Establish a Systems Engineering and Architecture Group

4D Develop an Agile Acquisition Requirements Process

FOCUS AREA 4:Build Acquisition Excellenceand Technology Leadership
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Core initiative

Implement Acquisition Improvement Plan

Issue: Acquisition functions across the IC have evolved independently within agencies. As a consequence, the IC does 

not have an integrated strategy to acquire and apply the newest technologies or to maintain a qualified acquisition

workforce. We take too long and spend too much to transition advanced technology to application. Inconsistent funding

increases programmatic risk in acquisition programs.

Description: By removing roadblocks and training the acquisition workforce, this initiative streamlines the existing 

acquisition process so that the Community can rapidly acquire needed technologies and services. 

Key Milestones and Results

• Implement remaining charters and policies directly impacting acquisition

• Develop agreements and policy documents to address problem areas

• Plan for technology transition possibilities

• Update funding policy 

• Acquire tools to support acquisition

• Input to FY09-10 performance budget 

• Implement process to prioritize strategic initiatives

• Plans for acquisition workforce training

How We Will Gauge Success

• Clear intent and commitment to

 acquisition excellence to achieve

 greater unity of effort and productivity

• Acquisitions provide enhanced

 technology sooner

• Sufficient acquisition workforce plans

• Efficiently execute IC acquisitions, resulting

 in a greater likelihood that acquisitions meet

 cost, schedule, and performance commitments

Impact of Improved Acquisition

Investment portfolios and capabilities are oriented to meet mission needs, and a disciplined and agile acquisition

process continually refreshes technology for critical missions. Resources are applied efficiently and effectively; sufficient

personnel and tools to manage and execute all IC acquisitions; and improved ability to meet cost, schedule, and

performance goals.
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PROBLEM | Complex organizations in the private sector take advantage of

connectivity to achieve situational awareness, strategic vision, and rapid action. 

The military recognized this shift, and understood it must be “joint,” followed by 

“network-centric.” The IC has begun managing itself from an enterprise perspective, 

but simply placing another layer of bureaucracy on top of existing serial and 

hierarchical structures will not make the IC more integrated or agile. We need to 

redesign how we manage the enterprise. 

APPROACH | An integrated management approach will help us maintain a

forward-looking strategy, align Community resources, ensure fiscal responsibility, and

measure progress as a whole. We will determine what resources our customers

actually use and what they need from the IC. We will use these insights, 

along with the diversity of thought provided by the varied inputs of a well-rounded 

workforce, as a reference point for aligning the enterprise. The combination of 

classification and clearances is perhaps the most serious impediment to operating 

fluidly as a whole enterprise. If these processes are standardized, we can maintain 

security with much less interruption, inhibition, and expense. An important new effort 

will be to standardize certification and accreditation of IT equipment, reducing the 

delay and overhead of hardware connection and refreshment. More generally, we 

will develop a performance measurement model that will help us move from our 

current input-focused, budget-driven approach towards an outcome-focused,

strategy-driven approach that rewards performance.

Impact of Modernized Business Practices

• New security policies and processes result in faster clearance

 processing and improved information sharing

• Leaders systematically receive performance insights about

 the IC enterprise to drive the cross-IC decision agenda

• Consolidated financial management practices and systems

 for the IC that are compliant and auditable

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 Core Initiatives

* Modernize the Security Clearance Process

* Align Strategy, Budget, and Capabilities through a Strategic

 Enterprise Management System

 Enabling Initiatives

5A Analyze and Improve IC Relationships with Clients

5B Collaborate to Protect Privacy and Civil Liberties

5C Identify a Common Core Human Resources Information System

5D Improve the IT Certification and Accreditation Process

FOCUS AREA 5:Modernize Business Practices
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Core initiative

Modernize the Security

Clearance Process

Issue: The current security clearance process is based 

on outdated risk management models and procedures; 

it takes too long, is too expensive, and is not responsive 

to current and changing mission needs. 

Description: Develop and implement security clearance 

process improvements within the IC that are applicable

to the national reform effort and consistent with

Congressional direction.

Key Milestones and Results

• Validate Proof of Concept demonstration

• Deliver end-to-end security clearance process

How We Will Gauge Success

• Performance of IC agency personnel

 security programs meet or exceed

 IRTPA guidelines for clearance case 

 processing times

Impact of Improved Security Clearance Process

Reformed security clearance system allows the

IC to quickly hire people with unique and critical

skills necessary to meet mission needs. A more

diverse IC staff will ensure that our customers have 

access to different perspectives and insights on global 

security challenges.

Core initiative

Align Strategy, Budget, and Capabilities 

through a Strategic Enterprise

Management System

Issue: IC plans and investments need to be driven 

more by strategy, mission requirements, capability 

statements, and performance criteria. Investment

decisions are made by programmatic input, not

capability output or mission outcome. We have difficulty 

identifying long-term capabilities, prioritizing among 

current needs, and making trade among capability 

portfolios. We cannot assess performance and are 

keyed to react rather than act ahead of need. 

Description: A coherent and integrated Strategic

Enterprise Management (SEM) system provides an 

end-to-end capabilities-based planning model that 

links strategy to capabilities to architecture to budgets 

to fielded solutions to desired outcomes. The SEM 

system ensures that we invest in the right capabilities 

in the right way, improve performance, and unlock

resources for higher priorities.

This initiative calls for the design, test, and launch of a

SEM system for the IC with initial operating capability

in Fall 2007 and full operational capability in Fall 2008.

Key Milestones and Results

• Scenario Based Planning System

• Detailed SEM Design

• Input to FY10 Budget Process

• Strategic measures and initiatives

 (Balanced Scorecard)

• Enterprise Portfolio Management process 

• Reporting and monitoring system

How We Will Gauge Success

• Decision making, and major resource

 decisions, are aligned with national strategies 

 and based on quantitative performance 

 outcomes and results

• Investments and fielded capabilities support 

 mission needs

Impact of Strategic Enterprise Management

Performance is analyzed and optimized against missions. 

Customer needs are integrated into the planning and 

decision-making process, and National Security drives 

the IC strategy, which drives IC investments. Improved 

long-term performance; maximized effectiveness

of investments.

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PROBLEM | The IRTPA significantly clarified and strengthened the DNI’s authorities

to lead the IC, but we did not fully define these changes in guidance. Remaining 

legal and policy barriers impede the function of the DNI, and the ability to build new 

alliances among IC elements, between foreign and domestic intelligence, between 

analysis and operations, and between strategic and tactical functions. The 9/11 

Commission described the IC elements interactions as similar to “a set of specialists 

in a hospital, each ordering tests, looking for symptoms, and prescribing medications. 

What is missing is the attending physician who makes sure they work as a team.” 

APPROACH | This initiative delineates the roles and responsibilities across the 

IC elements, and ensures alignment through a robust policy program that clarifies

decision rights and provides guidance around a range of issues, from security

clearances and classification to information sharing.

Impact of Clear and Aligned DNI Authorities

• Recommended revisions to IC policy documents provide clarified

 decision rights which help the IC become more adaptable and agile

• The DIA, NGA, NSA, and NRO charters reflect post-9/11 legislation

 and resolve uncertainties regarding how to coordinate efforts in

 overlapping areas

• DNI authorities are used to solve IC challenges in areas such as

information flow and cross-agency, mission-focused investments

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 Core Initiative

* Update Policy Documents Clarifying and Aligning IC Authorities

 Enabling Initiatives

6A Define Director of Defense Intelligence Authorities,

 Roles and Responsibilities

6B Update DoD Intelligence Agency Charters 

6C Develop a Capstone IC Doctrine and Lexicon

6D Foster Integration and Collaboration in the IC Legal Community

6E Harmonize Policy on “U.S. Person” Information

6F Revise and Enhance the National Intelligence Policy Process

6G Submit Annual Intelligence Authorization Act Proposal

FOCUS AREA 6:Clarify and Align DNI’s Authorities
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Core initiative

Update Policy Documents

Clarifying and Aligning IC Authorities

Issue: Several IC national policy documents do not fully reflect key changes in IC roles and responsibilities. Many 

external observers have emphasized the need to change strategic guidance to the Intelligence Community, including

the 9/11 Commission Report, which stated that, “Over the decades, the agencies and the rules surrounding the

Intelligence Community have accumulated to a depth that practically defies public comprehension.” 

Description: Working with the National Security Council (NSC), use an inclusive, dialogue-intensive process to recommend 

revisions to IC role and responsibility documents. 

Key Milestone and Result

• Recommended revisions to role and responsibility

 documents for Administration consideration

How We Will Gauge Success

• Revised language, coordinated within the IC, is presented

 to the NSC to assist in clarifying roles and responsibilities

 within the IC

Impact of Document Revision

Recommendations to clarify IC element roles and responsibilities and to clarify and strengthen DNI authorities

consistent with the IRTPA of 2004, Executive Branch priorities, and the 21st century IC structure and missions. Agency

decision rights are clarified and permit agile responses to changing mission needs, customers have a common

understanding of Community capabilities, and the IC has the ability to adapt to emerging national security challenges.
Implementation Model

Transforming the Intelligence Community while addressing current national security priorities is

no small task. At its core, the 500 Day Plan should be viewed as a change management program

focused on addressing long-standing modes, practices, and behaviors. Recognizing the “people”

and cultural elements is critical in ensuring long-term success of the plan. To this end, the

500 Day Plan uses an implementation model that is grounded by the following concepts:

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Only by involving the entire Intelligence Community in this effort can the 500 Day Plan promote 

and establish a transformational foundation that will set the stage for better intelligence production

and a more secure nation. The transformed IC will have the tools and mindset to be routinely 

collaborative and the predisposition to be innately integrated.

Organizational Transformational Elements

1. Ensure involvement and support

 of senior leadership

2. Align to the strategy 

3. Focus senior leadership on core initiatives

4. Set goals and establish timelines

5. Dedicate an integration implementation

 team to coordinate actions

6. Establish success criteria

7. Communicate with key stakeholders

8. Engage the community

9. Ensure accountability

10. Address challenges systematically

500 Day Plan Activities

‐­ Executive Committee (EXCOM)

‐­ Senior leadership team

‐­ Planning community

‐­ National Intelligence Strategy alignment

‐­ Balanced Scorecard

‐­ Review core initiatives at bi-weekly meetings

‐­ Dashboards

‐­ Program management plan

‐­ 100 Day Plan and 500 Day Plan

‐­ 500 Day Plan integration Program

Management Office

‐­ Build and follow through with metrics

‐­ Change management and communication office

‐­ Website and other communication vehicles

‐­ Offsites, wikis, blogs, rolling 100 Day Plan structure

‐­ Assign office of primary responsibility; conduct bi-weekly reporting

‐­ Team approach – policy, legal, technology, operations, etc.

Source: Adapted from Government Accounting Office (GAO) results oriented framework; and

“Leading Change: “Why Transformation Efforts Fail”, by John P. Kotter, Harvard Business Review, 2006.
NOW

Conclusion

The 500 Day Plan acknowledges that we will not change the culture of the IC overnight. The 

process is iterative; we will review our progress every 100 days and adjust and refine our

approach as we learn. Transformation takes time, and more than just one 100 day period. At 

the close of the 500 day planning period, we will have achieved significant progress in creating 

a more collaborative environment. All members of the IC will have the unique perspectives, 

focused capabilities and the most advanced tools needed to produce the best possible

intelligence our leaders and decision-makers require to keep our nation safe. 

For more than 60 years, dozens of commissions, blue-ribbon panels and other studies

– produced by Congress, by outside groups and even by the IC itself - have analyzed how

to improve the quality of intelligence and the function of the Community in all areas, including 

planning, governance, budgeting and authority, human capital management, operational

capabilities. Their recommendations are well-documented. We know what must be done.

- We know we need to tap the experiences and relationships of every member of the IC workforce to have an 

enterprise-wide perspective, with cross-organizational networks that allow them to understand the scope of

their environment and quickly leverage the full Community to address complex threats and meet critical needs.

- We know we must have an information sharing environment that is coordinated, efficient and effective

in satisfying our customers.

- We know that we must educate and train all members of the IC so they can learn in a collaborative environment, 

attend joint training programs, and acquire advanced professional expertise together to develop a collective

identity so they can understand complex threats and environments. 

- We know that cultural, bureaucratic, or other artificial barriers can no longer be allowed to impede the flow

of information so that intelligence analysts can produce the best possible analysis. 

- We know we must effectively and efficiently direct and integrate all collection assets to satisfy the country’s 

most important intelligence priorities. 

- We know that only an integrated strategy can ensure that we acquire and apply the newest technology,

quickly and cost effectively, with stable funding that will reduce risk.

- We know that our security clearance system must allow us to quickly hire people with unique and critical skills 

and a global perspective. 

- We know that we must convert our strategy to action, that national security must drive IC strategy, which must 

drive IC investments. 

- We know that IC agency decision rights must be clarified to permit agile response to changing mission needs.

We know what must be done... NOW is the time to do it.

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Director of National Intelligence

Washington, DC 20511