Login
iscover
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia has published a new report that shows that constructive collaboration between intelligence analysts and social and behavioural science researchers is crucial to Australia’s future national security.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Social Science Research & Intelligence in Australia was commissioned by Australia’s Office of National Intelligence, alongside the 2017 Independent Intelligence Review that recommended increasing outreach to Australia’s Science, Technology and Innovation community.
The report recommends that Australia’s intelligence community consider developing broad capabilities and cross-disciplinary collaborations across the social and behavioural sciences to better pre-empt, combat and address future threats to national security.
Academy president Professor Jane Hall noted the importance of collaboration between engineers and human intelligence analysts and social scientists in order to provide effective insights into the opportunities and risks posed by technologies such as artificial intelligence.
“We know how much modern society relies on digital technologies and integrated systems,” said Professor Hall. “And we know this reliance presents very significant risks should the technologies or systems be interrupted through accident or human intervention.”
“Understanding and dealing with the human side of these risks requires an understanding of people, their potential motivations, organisation and actions. This is the core business of the social sciences and why it is so important that our intelligence organisations draw on the best available research and insights from our social and behavioural scientists.”
The report recommends a 10-year blueprint for Australia’s national intelligence agencies to build greater capacity, understanding and collaborations with social and behavioural scientists that will serve Australian security interests into the future.
