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The IC develops and maintains intelligence and information sharing relationships with international, military, domestic, and private sector partners to promote intelligence-related communications, standardize processes for collaboration, lead coordination of IC information sharing and foreign liaison issues, identify emerging issues, forge solutions in support of military operations, and maximize the use of private sector information and expertise to support intelligence missions while protecting privacy and civil liberties. Examples of these activities include:

### In-STeP: The Intelligence Science & Technology Partnership

Purposefully inclusive, the In-STeP program casts a broad net. If a given technology, research effort, or idea advances the state of the art with respect to IC interests, In-STeP wants to know about it, regardless of origin. Information exchange and key partnerships with the private sector, various research centers, and a diversity of other technology providers are vital to ensuring that the IC maintains access to world-class technology, as well as a strong posture against technological surprise. An essential component of that exchange is for partners to understand the IC’s often-unique S&T needs, so their research and development can be tailored toward fielding capabilities that ultimately solve intelligence challenges. Visit the In-STeP website to learn more.

 

### IARPA

The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity invests in high-risk/high-payoff research to provide the U.S. with an overwhelming intelligence advantage. As the only research organization within the ODNI, IARPA works with the other 16 IC elements to address the IC’s most challenging problems that can be solved with science and technology.

 

IARPA performs no research in-house; rather, it funds researchers in colleges, universities, companies, National Labs, and other organizations, in fields as diverse as artificial intelligence, asset validation and identity intelligence, bio-security, chemical detection, cyber security, high performance computing, human judgment, linguistics, radio frequency geolocation, and secure manufacturing of microelectronics.

 

In addition to using traditional contracts and grants, IARPA uses public challenges to award cash prizes to researchers for innovative solutions that achieve specific goals. To date, IARPA has funded over 500 unique organizations (academia, small businesses, large businesses and non-profits). Over 1,500 unique bidders have been part of research proposals and abstracts submitted to IARPA.

### GLOBAL TRENDS

Every four years since 1997, the National Intelligence Council has published its Global Trends report, an unclassified strategic assessment of how key trends and uncertainties might shape the world over the next 20 years to help senior US leaders think and plan for the longer term. The report is timed to be especially relevant for the administration of a newly elected U.S. President, but Global Trends increasingly has served to foster discussions about the future with people around the world.

 

These global consultations, both in preparing the paper and sharing the results, help the NIC and broader U.S. Government learn from perspectives beyond the United States and are useful in sparkling discussions about key assumptions, priorities, and choices.

 

Since 1979, the NIC has served a bridge between the intelligence and policy communities, as well as a facilitator for outreach to outside experts. The NIC's National Intelligence Officers, drawn from government, academia and the private sector, are the IC's senior substantive experts on a range of issues and work under the auspices of the ODNI.

 

The NIC covers the regions of the world as well as functional topics, such as economics, security, technology, cyber, terrorism, and the environment. The NIC coordinates Intelligence Community support for U.S. policy deliberations while producing papers and formal National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) on critical national security questions.