Official contacts with foreign governments , including liaison with their intelligence and security services. Open-source information is publicly available information appearing in print or electronic form. It may be transmitted by radio, television, and newspapers, or it may be distributed through commercial databases, graphics, drawings, magazines, or books. It is important to understand that information from collection sources is information, not intelligence. It can be subject to misinterpretation, or just plain wrong.
Information becomes intelligence through processing, exploitation, and analysis.
Analysis and Production Intelligence analysts are generally assigned to a particular geographic or functional specialty. Analysts obtain information from all sources pertinent to their area of responsibility through the collection, processing and forwarding systems. Analysts may tap into these systems to obtain answers to specific questions or generate information they need. Analysts absorb incoming information, evaluate it, test it against other information and their knowledge and expertise, produce an assessment of the current state of affairs within an assigned field or substantive area, and then forecast future trends or outcomes. The analyst also develops requirements for collection of new information.