INTELLIPEDIA - AN IMPROVED TOOL FOR COMMUNICATING

UNCLAS STATE 170388 SIPDIS FROM DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE MANAGEMENT OFFICERS AND IMOS PLEASE DISTRIBUTE TO ALL REPORTING OFFICERS AND STAFF E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AMGT AINF SUBJECT: INTELLIPEDIA - AN IMPROVED TOOL FOR COMMUNICATING POLICY ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: THE DEPARTMENT HAS A NEW TECHNOLOGY TOOL AT ITS FINGERTIPS THAT WILL REVOLUTIONIZE THE WAY WE SHARE INFORMATION, MAKE US MORE EFFICIENT, SAVE US TIME, AND IMPROVE OUR WORK FLOW: INTELLIPEDIA. USING THE SAME SOFTWARE THAT POWERS THE POPULAR "WIKIPEDIA" SITE ON THE INTERNET, INTELLIPEDIA IS AN EDITABLE WEB-BASED TOOL AVAILABLE TO THE ENTIRE USG INTERAGENCY COMMUNITY AND TO STATE EMPLOYEES ON OUR CLASSIFIED AND UNCLASSIFIED NETWORKS. I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE ALL STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICES AND POSTS TO, AMONG OTHER THINGS, LEVERAGE INTELLIPEDIA AS AN INSTRUMENT TO MANAGE SHARED WORKING FILES AND TO COLLABORATE MORE EFFICIENTLY AND QUICKLY WITH OTHER STATE AND INTERAGENCY PERSONNEL AROUND THE WORLD. ¶2. (U) BY USING INTELLIPEDIA AS A ONE-STOP SHOP TO SHARE POLICY WITH OTHER BUREAUS, FIELD OFFICES, AND THE INTERAGENCY COMMUNITY, THIS TOOL CAN BE USED TO SHAPE POLICY. INTELLIPEDIA IS USER-DEFINED AND DRIVEN, WHICH MEANS THAT ANYONE WITH A DEPARTMENT LOG-ON CAN CREATE AN ID, THEN VIEW, ADD, AND CHANGE INFORMATION. UNLIKE WIKIPEDIA, ALL CONTRIBUTIONS TO INTELLIPEDIA ARE ATTRIBUTABLE TO NAMED INDIVIDUALS WITH USG CLEARANCES. BECAUSE THE SYSTEM IS DECENTRALIZED, IT BECOMES MORE DYNAMIC AND USEFUL AS WE DO NOT DEPEND ON A SINGLE ADMINISTRATOR TO KEEP PAGES UP-TO-DATE. ¶3. (U) INTELLIPEDIA IS A TIME-SAVER. OFFICERS CAN QUICKLY DISSEMINATE INFORMATION TO A BROAD WORKING GROUP WITH THE INVESTMENT OF A FEW MINUTES. THEY CAN ALSO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF INFORMATION OTHERS HAVE UPLOADED. FOR EXAMPLE, THE EUROPEAN UNION DESK COULD UPLOAD CLEARED TALKING POINTS ON EU-CUBA ISSUES FOR GENERAL USE IN BRIEFING MEMOS, THEREBY PROVIDING DESK OFFICERS A STARTING POINT FOR PAPERS, GIVING FIELD OFFICERS MORE CONSISTENT INSIGHT INTO WHAT WASHINGTON IS SAYING ON THE EU, AND SHAPING THE INTERAGENCY'S POLICY. EMBASSY OFFICERS CAN SHARE REAL-TIME ANALYSIS WITH WASHINGTON AND AN INTERAGENCY AUDIENCE AND BY USING INTELLIPEDIA EFFECTIVELY, WE CAN SHAPE A REAL-TIME INTERAGENCY LIBRARY OF FOREIGN POLICY. ¶4. (U) INTELLIPEDIA ON THE CLASSIFIED SYSTEM ALSO HAS CABLE FUNCTIONS THAT ARE FAR MORE USER-FRIENDLY THAN THOSE AVAILABLE THROUGH CABLE EXPRESS. WITHIN INTELLIPEDIA, USERS CAN SEARCH FOR ANY COMBINATION OF KEYWORDS, CABLE NUMBERS, TAGS, AND DATE RANGES AND HAVE THOSE RESULTS DISPLAYED ON AN INTELLIPEDIA ARTICLE. USERS CAN ALSO CREATE NEW PAGES THAT WILL CAPTURE FUTURE INCOMING CABLES, E.G. THE RESPONSES TO A SPECIFIC DEMARCHE CABLE AS THEY COME IN. CABLES MUST HAVE A SIPDIS CAPTION IN ORDER TO BE AUTOMATICALLY PUBLISHED ON INTELLIPEDIA AND ON THE NETCENTRIC DIPLOMACY SYSTEM. ¶5. (U) INTELLIPEDIA IS FREE, OFFERING THE DEPARTMENT A SIGNIFICANT BUDGET ADVANTAGE OVER OTHER WEB-SITE TECHNOLOGIES OFFERED ON THE CLASSIFIED AND UNCLASSIFIED NETWORKS. EUR, FOR EXAMPLE, IS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY AND COST SAVINGS AND IS TARGETING SPRING 2008 FOR ITS TRANSITION TO A CENTRALIZED INTELLIPEDIA SITE FOR ALL EUR COUNTRIES AND POLICY ON THE CLASSIFIED INTELLIPEDIA NETWORK. ¶6. (U) SEVERAL STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICES HAVE ALREADY RECOGNIZED THE OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED BY INTELLIPEDIA AND HAVE CREATED ACTIVE SITES ON THE CLASSIFIED SYSTEM (SEE HTTP://WWW.INTELINK.SGOV.GOV/WIKI/),INCLUDING THE BUREAU OF EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS, EUR'S EUROPEAN UNION OFFICE, EMBASSY ANKARA, AND S/ES'S CRISIS MANAGEMENT SUPPORT OFFICE. THE BUREAU OF INTELLIGENCE AND RESEARCH PORTAL LINKS TO INR INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENTS, ANALYST NOTES, POLL RESULTS, AND FOREIGN MEDIA COMMENTARY. THE STATE DEPARTMENT'S ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT IN THIS PROCESS ENSURES THAT THE ARTICLES IN INTELLIPEDIA ARE CURRENT AND USEFUL TO STATE AND OUR INTERAGENCY PARTNERS. ¶7. (U) INTELLIPEDIA CAN ALSO BE USED FOR A VARIETY OF COLLABORATIVE BUSINESS PROCESSES. IF YOU NEED HELP, E-MAIL INTELLIPEDIA_HELP@STATE.SGOV.GOV OR INTELLIPEDIA_HELP@STATE.GOV. ¶8. (U) MINIMIZE CONSIDERED. RICE