The Defense Department is expected to name the Defense Intelligence Agency as its lead agency for “open-source” intelligence, according to U.S. officials, highlighting the growing importance of unclassified information drawn from social media, online material and commercial data sources in modern military operations.
The move would give the DIA a leadership role in deciding policy questions and setting standards regarding a category of information that was once an afterthought but has grown more important in military intelligence programs in recent years as digital devices, online services and commercial databases proliferate.
