The analysis carried out within the CRiTERIA project has revealed the following trends:
- Intelligence-sharing platforms are becoming more popular across the EU. This can be linked to the ongoing process of strengthening EU-wide intelligence sharing (e.g., between EU MS & Frontex & Europol), but also becomes current security threats require multi-stakeholder collaboration.
- Intelligence-sharing platforms are used by different types of organisations. This has multiple implications. On one hand, it shows the widening of the intelligence function (often in the context of hybrid threats) towards other domains, which in time could improve information exchange among very different types of organisations on issues of public interest. On the other it enables organisations to learn from the experiences of other categories of entities and it allows technological providers of intelligence sharing solutions to develop better and more agile products that can benefit a wider range of customers.
- Experts have identified two main sets of challenges when it comes to using intelligence-sharing platforms:
- whether that particular intelligence item should be shared (operational & legal concerns).
- whether the information can be shared (lack of time, lack of an adequate infrastructure).
- Overall, this would indicate that in the absence of significant incentives intelligence sharing levels would be quite low.
- Most law enforcement agencies seem to employ a limited number of platforms used for intelligence sharing. This is often connected to limited organisational resources, but it can be also linked to the process of concentrating intelligence-sharing within the EU (as reflected by the tendency to concentrate on single/dominant platforms in spite of the many offers on the market)
- Intelligence-sharing platforms are mainly used for:
- collection and/o distribution of raw information; and
- preparing analyses and/or sharing analytical products.
- They are less used for disseminating intelligence to beneficiaries or to evaluate intelligence products.
- The use of intelligence-sharing platforms is unlikely to diminish in the short and medium term.
- Intelligence sharing occurs very frequently in most law enforcement agencies (LEAs), with many agencies sharing intelligence with other European counterparts every day.
- Intelligence sharing is more likely to occur when responding to specific threats, often linked to cross-border crime (e.g. human trafficking, irregular migration, use of false documents etc.)
- Intelligence sharing is stronger within the same organisation/same country than it is with foreign partners. This is linked again to the issue of trust (or lack thereof), legal framework or lack of the required infrastructure.
- It is highly likely for an EU country to share intelligence with countries of transit for irregular migrants. There is also a high likelihood of sharing intelligence with neighbours, irrespective of whether they are EU Member States or not.
- While the majority if not all EU LEAs currently employ intelligence-sharing platforms, their experience in using them varies greatly from country to country
- Security and functionality are some of the most important characteristics for choosing an intelligence platform.
