AGENCY LONG-RANGE PLANNING PHASE IV - SUPPORT CAPABILITIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86B01123R000100010017-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 3, 2008
• Sequence Number: 17
• Content Type: REPORT

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Office of Information Services
Agency Long-Range Planning
Phase IV - Support Capabilities
The Agency faces a serious and increasing problem during the coming
decade. Advancements in technology and an increase in personnel will
greatly increase the collection of intelligence data. This data must
be efficiently managed to produce the maximum value from the informa-
tion available.
Congressional oversight committees during the 1970's recommended that
the Agency's records management be improved. In 1980, the Office of
Information Services was organized and records management specialists
were formed into a new career sub-group. This was followed by emphasis
on professional development and a plan was devised to aid career
development.
To further enhance the Agency's records management, computer programs
were developed to assist in tracking intelligence data and material.
As work progressed on these earlier programs, it became obvious that
files and data were growing at a rapid rate and would continue to do
so throughout the Agency. In 1981, development of The Records
Information System (TRIS) was begun. TRIS will be an Agency-wide
network of subsystems which by 1987 will permit a broad exchange of
data among many components in the Agency within appropriate security
restraints. Plans are to design the system with features that permit
modular improvements to be incorporated as technological advances
become available.
Additional capabilities will be required to handle the increased data
collected and to operate the electronic mail and automated information
handling systems which will be in use by the end of the decade.
Registries will be smaller, with fewer mail clerks and couriers, and
will function as satellites feeding into and communicating with a
centrally administered data base. Records control schedules will be
categorized and standardized. throughout the Agency for consistent
maintenance and disposition. Clerical personnel operating the system
will be more highly trained than in the past and the duties performed
will be less easily distinguished from those of the professional than
in the past. New recruiting guidelines will be required and new train-
ing to update current employee skills will be necessary.
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New procedures and facilities for storing electronic records will be
necessary. Programs are currently underway to design and test elec-
tronic mail systems but thousands of manhours will be required to
expand information handling capabilities beyond this stage. One of
the most important criteria in producing such systems is to assure
that those responsible for the final results are given the authority
to establish the parameters for its design and development.
Predictions are that the overall work of the Agency will expand and
the number of personnel will increase accordingly. Support functions
usually increase proportionally and the fields of records management
and regulations control are no exceptions. Additional financial re-
sources will be required to procure the sophisticated automated systems
necessary to support intelligence analysis, word processing, electronic
mail, and computerized information storage and retrieval. Planning to
attain these capabilities must begin in FY 83 and must be dynamic and
progressive.
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A. Major Concerns Over Past Several Years
1. During the 1970's, the Agency underwent a period of serious
review by several Congressional oversight committees. This
review emphasized the need to improve the management of
information and to comply with statutory regulations concern-
ing the creation, use, scheduling, disposition, release,
classification/declassification, and destruction of Agency
records.
2. To achieve this, the Office of Information Services (OIS) was
created in 1980. Negotiations were undertaken with the other
directorates to cede control of their records management
positions to OIS. Plans were made to give personnel from
various components throughout the Agency the opportunity to.
join the OIS MI Career Sub-Group. As a result, many of the
Agency's information handling and management positions were
incorporated into this Career Sub-Group.
3. Once the MI Career Sub-Group was established, considerable time
was devoted to the professional development of A'II careerists.
Many people had been in their current assignments for an
extended period of time and efforts were expended to develop
training profiles. for MI careerists. In addition, it was
necessary to provide MI careerists.with a career ladder and
numerous reassignments were made.
4. OIS has been involved in developing several computerized records
accounting systems (in module form), such as those used in con-
trol and retrieval of retired records in the Records Center
(ARCINS and RAMS); those used to record and control security
classification (DARE, DECAL, and TSCADS); one used to control
forms and reports (FARMS); and one used to control and account
for Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act requests (IPS-LOG).
S. Effort also was devoted to coping with and seeking relief from
the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and the
revision of Executive Order 12065.
B. Current Major Issues
1. The Records Information System (TRIS)
a. In 1981, OIS began to develop The Records Information System
(TRIS). This system is planned to be a single Agency-wide
computer-based, interoperable records accounting system
to provide more effective records control. TRIS will be
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designed as a network of subsystems--some supporting the
information needs of a single component and others main-
taining central data bases for the use of all participating
.components. TRIS will integrate all subsystems in a way
that facilitates standardized records accounting practices
and allows an uninhibited exchange of data within security
constraints.
b. Technological obsolescence poses a serious threat to
information systems that take years to design, coordinate,
approve, and implement. Future systems must take into
account technological advances that will occur by the time
the system becomes operational. Several areas of techno-
logical improvement are quite predictable already. Two of
the more obvious ones are computer processing speed and
computer mass storage devices. Other forecasts can be based
upon what is on today's drawing boards in the private sector,
such as voice input systems. (Threshold Technologies,
Delran, New Jersey, produces voice equipment that is already
carried on the GSA schedule.) The development cycle for the
TRIS records accounting system projects implementation in
1987 and, therefore, has the potential of falling into the
technological obsolescence arena.
Records control schedules are being revised to standardize
maintenance and disposition of records common to all components.
This revision process will ensure that common records within
Agency components will be administered in a like manner, i.e.,
a policy file in a DDI office and a policy file in a DDA office
each will have the same records schedule item number and the
same disposition instructions. Organizing schedules in this
manner will avoid having a common series of records retained
for different periods of time in different parts of the Agency.
This process eventually will produce a consolidated Agency
records control schedule.
C. The Future
1. Automated Systems
a. There is a need to develop and refine a single Agency-wide
automated records accounting system. This system would
replace existing OIS records accounting/tracking subsystems
already being used in the Agency.
b. The Agency-wide system must also be able to synthesize data
from existing automated registry systems plus those being
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designed within the concept set forth in the Common-Use
Automated Registry System (CARS) Task Force paper. These
stand-alone systems are expected to be on line within the
next 3 to 5 years and will form the basis for the Agency's
consolidated records accounting system.
c. Action must be taken to acquire a uniform system query
language, using plain English. These user friendly query
languages are available commercially and would permit users
at any level to gain access to the system with a minimum of
computer training.
d. The task of managing automated records systems will be
greatly complicated by emerging electronic mail systems.
One such system, built by and for the Office of Development
and Engineering (OD&E), DDSET, is already operational between
ODE components and a contractor facility located outside the
Washington area. A pilot electronic mail system called the
Automated Information Management System (AIMS) is being
tested by the Office of Data Processing (ODP). To assure the
effective design of an automated system such as AIMS, those
responsible for management of the Agency's records (OIS) must
be included in the development phase of the systems.
e. Data management planning to provide for the orderly
disposition of electronic data is vital. Development of such
a plan for all future automated information systems will
alleviate the massive problem we face today--the retention of
extensive collections of unscheduled electronic data.
Thousands of manhours will be required to prepare records
schedules for this electronic data. The volume of Agency
electronic data is estimated to be in excess of ?2 billion
pages. In the future, expert systems resulting from rapid
advancement in artificial intelligence research will be used
in the disposition scheduling of electronic data.
2. Information Management
a. Management guidance and direction must come from a centralized
control in the Agency in order to provide a cohesive and
consistent set of rules and regulations governing information
in electronic format, as well as paper records. These
procedures will define timing and the criteria for application
across the board. Standards for information handling will be
developed in a top-down manner by a senior data base
administrator. They will be reconciled with available
Government-wide standards to ensure a coherent non-duplicative
set of guidance documents.
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b. Periodic audits will be conducted every 2 to 4.years to
ensure compliance with these standards. This will require
skilled professionals, experienced in records audit. and
survey techniques, to monitor compliance with the established
policies and standards. Once all systems are automated, they
will be constantly reviewed by data base administrators.
3. Archiving and Vital Records
a. The increased volumes of information/records in electronic
data format will require an archival system to be developed
to handle that new media. The system should be able to
accept electronic information directly from the originator
and be capable of retrieving the information in electronic
format. The development of this system should include a
vital records program as an additional task of the overall
computer program, thus saving considerable time, space, and
money by having compatibility built into the initial design.
b. Additional improvement in archival systems is possible by
the use of optical disks for long-term storage of data.
This is a significant achievement since it does not require
the maintenance associated with magnetic tapes and requires
considerably less space. Technological advances have made
it possible to record on pregrooved optical tellurium-based
semimetal disks with laser diodes, thus reducing the cost of
digital data recording, increasing the density of data storage,
and improving the capability of retrieving specific subject
matter.
c. Improved procedures will be coupled with the advanced systems.
Universal archiving is possible for use throughout the Agency
with a system for tagging a document so that it will have a
single identification code which will be retained throughout
the life of the document. The procedure for assigning the.
code will be standard with each component having a unique
identification. This will greatly enhance the tracking and
retrieval of documents in electronic format.
4. Development Within OIS
To obtain and maintain the most effective records management
program, continued internal development across the board must
be undertaken. Major areas requiring attention are:
a. The recruitment of individuals with information management
backgrounds attained through education, experience, or both.
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b. Increased professional development of current MI careerists.
An initial training course (Orientation to Automated Records
Systems) specifically designed to expose MI careerists to
automated information management has been completed. More
advanced internal training courses are in the development
cycle. MI careerists also will need exposure to external
information management training courses and professional
society activities.
C. A restructured working environment for information handling
personnel. The concept of all data managers having a work-
station centered around a computer terminal which is linked
to the records accounting data bases as well as a centralized
computer base must become a reality. These workstations will
be upgraded periodically as technology evolves.
d. As the group of records managers expands, additional office
space will be required. Major efforts must be devoted to
maintaining the OIS divisions as complete physical working
units rather than as separated units which now exist.
e. Keeping abreast of technological advances is vital to the
continued function of a records management program. The
information explosion will force rapid change in information
management activities, and we must change to keep pace.
5. Potential Problem Areas
a. Centralized records management will be established with
appropriate authority to mandate compliance with directives
issued by OIS to fulfill its mission of managing the Agency's
records programs.
b. OIS will require additional resources (funds, personnel,
space, and equipment) to keep abreast of the increased
volumes of information/records, especially electronic data
format. In conjunction, these resources should include
provisions for a new archival/vital records facility to
accommodate electronic information storage and retrieval
activities.
c. The recruitment and retention of qualified personnel will
be a continuing problem.
d. The anticipated increase of information in electronic format
and maintaining adequate security and compartmentation for
such information will be another problem. A potential problem
will also exist with the conversion of information in paper
and electronic form to new information storage media. The
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conversion of paper records is now possible through the use
of optical character readers (OCRs). This OCR process
converts the typed characters to digital form but is limited
to a number of specific type fonts.
e. Omni-font optical character readers, such as the Kurzweil
Data Entry Machine (KDEM), are now commercially available.
The KDEM can be used to convert any good quality typed or
printed material to digital form at a rate about ten times
as fast as keyboard data entry. The main problems encoun-
tered are with the poor quality of much of the filed
documents.
f. The conversion of electronic information can easily be
accomplished if it is done soon after recording. Information
in magnetic form may not be convertible after a few years
because of the instability of the holding medium. Another
major problem affecting conversion involves the evolutionary
changes in equipment and software. Advances in technology
cause the equipment used to record and process the data to
become obsolete and thus no longer available. The programs
used to process the data also become obsolete and frequently
unavailable. Therefore, even though the data may be available
and intact in the original holding medium, connecting it into
new formats becomes difficult and expensive.
g. There will be the need to accommodate the projected increases
of information in electronic format to provide adequate
security protection with the new technology coming on line.
Also, a potential problem may exist with the conversion of
current data into new generation data format.
h. OIS must have authority (on behalf of the DDA) to specify
Agency-wide policies and procedures for data standards to
ensure an orderly progression from today's operation to an
Agency-wide records accounting/tracking system.
i. A change in Administration in the 1984 or 1988 election
years may precipitate a revision of the Executive order
which permitted the Agency to halt its internal systematic
classification review activities. If the requirement for
this review is reinstated, at least 18 additional employees
would be required to restaff the review office at the minimum
level originally approved to conduct centralized systematic
review.
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III. THE PHASE II PLANNING PAPERS
The workload and responsibilities of OIS are proportionately dependent
on new initiatives undertaken by other Agency directorates. A substan-
tial increase in resources (funds, personnel, space, and equipment)
will be required during the next 10 years in order to keep abreast of
increased records management/accounting functions that will be generated
by the new endeavors projected by other Agency components. As more
information systems are automated and users see the results of this
automation, they will demand both higher-quality data and improved
systems responsiveness.
The importance of the efficient management of information, whether it
be old records, new records, or regulations and guidelines, has not
been understood and supported by the majority of managers in the Agency
in the past. Congressional studies recently have pointed to the need
to improve our information management throughout the cycle, from the
creation of a document to its final disposition whether that be
permanent storage or destruction.
The change of the old image of a registry is necessary as the age of
electronic mail and other automated office systems insert themselves
into the routine way of doing business. We must "reconceptualize"
(as John Naisbitt, noted author on trends in American society, says)
our registries and the personnel that operate them in response to the
trends. An automobile rust-proofing shop may have been adequate a few
years back, but today to satisfy trends in customer desires, it may be
called "The Car Preservation Center." The analogy is that the registry
of today must change in response to customer desires and to the trends
in information handling systems. The "reconceptualization" will occur
as registries become highly automated, as the clerical personnel
operating them become more highly trained, and as there occurs a greater
blurring of skills between clerical and managerial functions.
As the Agency's collection capability increases, the importance of the
Agency becoming more and more an information-based organization is now
apparent. The information collected is not worthwhile if it is not
used. The efficient management of this information is of utmost
importance.
Naisbitt says in his book, Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming
Our Lives, that "technology development advances rapidly and, in general,
well in advance of the willingness of many to adapt comfortably to it."
This is a challenge we face: in utilizing advanced electronic informa-
tion and mail systems available even now; in enhancing the skills of
assigned personnel through imaginative training; in convincing management
of the high priorities that must be assigned to obtain the funds to
procure the advanced equipment; in the necessity of obtaining qualified
professional personnel to operate the systems; and in organizing records
management within the Agency into a single, centralized organization
which applies standardized procedures to control the flow of documents
and data in whatever format.
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With the current limitations on available qualified personnel to design
and develop the needed automated system, expert consultants should be
hired to supply their state-of-the-art knowledge to articulate the
program which is feasible for the next decade and to begin the system
design. The goal for 1992 would be an integrated, automated information
system which would utilize artificial intelligence for making routine
decisions and routing traffic. It would work under a central management
control using data base administrators and systems analysts/trouble-
shooters, and would replace mail clerks and couriers in decentralized
component locations by using terminals operated by information analysts.
These decentralized terminals would have a built-in, but limited,
processing capability and the necessary hardware redundancy to provide
the needed reliability. Encryption would also be provided before the
data is transmitted to the data base thus providing added security to
the stored file.
A model system should be installed and tested in the same manner as the
current test program being operated with a completely automated overseas
field station. As the confidence in the system grows, it should be
expanded to meet the overall Agency needs and constantly updated with
technological advancements as fast as the personnel and monetary
resources permit. The initial design, as well as the operational
progress and benefits, must be coordinated with all users of the system
whether they be connected with an analyst, registry, or archival func-
tion. In addition to increased efficiency, because of speed, accuracy,
and security protection, morale will be improved because of the
elimination of labor-intensive handling which in turn leads to a
perception of less meniality in the tasks, thus increasing more
professionalism in the ranks.
As the Agency increases the capability of collecting information and
increases the number of persons involved in collecting data, OIS will
have the following alternatives: (1) establish an automated network
of systems to control and account for information as envisioned in
TRIS; (2) obtain a commercial contract for the design, installation,
and operation of an integrated function, automated handling, information
management system; (3) establish in a limited, non-interoperative manner
an automated system, such as CARS; or (4) attempt to cope with this
increase by hiring additional personnel to continue the current labor-
intensive procedures.
Graphic capabilities will be in common use within 5 years and by 1992
video conferencing should be economical and with an additional saving
realized through less time away from the office and lower TDY travel
costs.
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IV. RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS
To provide the capabilities believed necessary to meet the challenges
for an Agency-wide information/records management system in the 1990's,
specific requirements must be met. These consist of:
1. A task force (consisting of Agency personnel, experienced and
successful systems contract personnel, or an appropriate mix of
the two) organized to design an automated records accounting
system flexible enough to improve and grow through a transition
stage into the 1990's. Performance should be maintained at a near
state-of-the-art capability by selectively replacing modular sec-
tions to upgrade system performance.
2. Adequate funds to build, install, and operate the initial system
on a test scale so that the validity of the original plans can be
ascertained and the cost of the complete system can be extrapolated.
The funding requirements for TRIS are estimated by ODP to be in the
$7 million range. TRIS is simply an automated and integrated records
accounting system which should be fully operational in 5 to 7 years.
A full-blown universal terminal network with access to file data in
all parts of the Intelligence Community could increase funding needs
as much as tenfold.
3. Assembly of a faculty and production of a training syllabus to begin
retraining clerical personnel for the transition from typewriter
production to computer terminal processing. This is probably an
Office of Training and Education support requirement.
4. Improved guidelines for recruiting clerical personnel with experience
in needed automation skills or aptitude for utilizing automated
records information systems. Desirable skills are high or improvable
verbal, numerical, and administrative capabilities.
5. Approximately additional people by 1992 for a total of = MI
Career Sub-Group personnel. If the number of persons who collect,
analyze, and produce intelligence increases by one-third, the number
of information handling personnel required to manage this data will
need to increase accordingly.
6. A new Archives and Records Center facility devoted exclusively to
the requirements of digital data preservation and storage. The
center should be underground, climate-controlled, and located in a
sparsely populated area, making full use of technological advances.
The location would be coordinated with the National Intelligence
Emergency Support Office (NIESO) to include emergency relocation
planning considerations. Plans to acquire property should be in
progress now with the possibilit of utilizin ernment facili-
ties that are being deactivated or additional
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property contiguous to the Federal Preparedness Agency near Bluemont,
Virginia. An alternate solution would be to plan, in conjunction
with NIESO, a Federal Data Storage Facility which would be located
away from the metropolitan Washington area. CIA and the Intelligence
Community should be allocated a portion of this facility which could
be shared with other Federal agencies.
I -
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