Call for Papers
The Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers (AIPIO) is pleased to announce a call for papers for its 32nd National Conference, Intelligence 2023, to be held in Adelaide at the Hilton Adelaide on 16-18 August 2023. The conference theme is: ‘Intelligence in the Future(s)’. Within that theme, we will explore the sub-themes of Innovation, Space and Data & Integrity – each representing areas and aspects of intelligence that are rapidly changing and relevant to the intelligence profession of the future.
We seek contributions from intelligence professionals, academics, students, and other industry professionals. Successful abstracts will be given the opportunity to prepare a paper and present it to a national conference attended by intelligence professionals, managers, and sector partners. All selected papers will also be published in the AIPIO journal to be available online after the conference – subject to contributor approval.
Overview
Intelligence environments in the future(s) will be vastly different to the intelligence environments of today, and therefore will require vastly different intelligence specific skills. In anticipating and responding to constantly evolving security risks, intelligence professionals will likely be tracking new combinations of non-state and state-sponsored actors who threaten to disrupt civil society. Shifting strategic alliances amongst these hostile actors, military conflicts, the presence of terrorist factions and street gangs, and deteriorating local economies will add to the complexity of intelligence work. Hostile actors will have access to new resources, including computing technologies and cyberspace operations, as well as chemical and biological agents that will amplify their power to inflict harm and disrupt daily life and commerce. This will in turn create challenges to the integrity of the information we collect and assess. We must prepare the intelligence enterprise for the volatility and rapid pace of change in the future(s) by shaping and enabling agile intelligence professionals, assimilating new technologies and building practices that can anticipate and respond at will.
Throughout 2023 AIPIO will explore differentiations between the current intelligence landscape and the intelligence landscape in the future(s). We will ask what is going to be required from intelligence professionals in the future, and how we can best prepare them for the future. Within the rubric of ‘Intelligence in the Future(s)’ we will take a deep dive into:
Innovation
Innovation in intelligence practice, through technological and tradecraft advancements, allows intelligence professionals to improve productivity, increase agility and invest in their future wellbeing as members of the intelligence community. The proliferation and expansion of data and intelligence sources means that the ability to handle multiple forms of data at once while linking different pieces of related information is crucial. Agility of thinking to pivot and respond to new and emerging threats in a timely and effective way, and investment in technology and tradecraft as enabling capabilities to support achievements, are vital aspects of the intelligence enterprise in the future.
Space
Space is the fourth physical domain – the others being air, sea and land – and space intelligence is arguably one of the most popular demonstrations of an intelligence capability which challenges the ability for intelligence professionals to prevail in contested and increasingly congested environments. We rely on space intelligence for navigation, climate change research, weather forecasting, community, everyday devices, and military operations, but we should ask, what other information is available and what other demands are there for intelligence professional in the context of space intelligence.
Data & Integrity
We live in an age of information and misinformation – making the role of the intelligence professional evermore challenging. The ability to effectively determine the integrity and accuracy of the information we collect is a crucial aspect of intelligence analysis and in the digital age has never been more important. Not only is the integrity of our information of upmost importance, but we must also ensure that as intelligence professionals, our personal and professional integrity does not waver.
Important Dates
17 April 2023: Abstracts due
1 May 2023: Requests for full papers will be sent out and unsuccessful contributors will be notified.
28 June 2023: Papers due. Please note that if you fail to submit your paper, then you will be unable to present at the conference
Submission Guidelines
An abstract (200 words maximum) outlining your paper and addressing the theme of the conference and one of the three sub-themes should be prepared. All abstracts will be considered by a committee. Successful applicants will be notified and will be invited to complete a full paper, and will receive a complimentary registration for the day of their presentation with the option to attend the full conference at a discounted rate.
The paper will be presented at the conference and should contain sufficient information for a 30-minute presentation. Papers should not be published elsewhere prior to being published in the AIPIO Journal. Authors will be asked to sign a copyright transfer form to transfer the copyright over to the journal, and therefore can no longer reproduce the work or publish the work elsewhere without permission from the journal.
Please note successful papers will need to be submitted in the preferred format of the AIPIO Journal as noted in the “Submission Guidelines” on the AIPIO website: https://www.aipio.asn.au/aipio-journal
