Beyond the buzzword

Big Data and National Security Decision-Making

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4944196
AutoresDamien Van Puyvelde (0000-0003-2991-5856), Stephen Coulthart, M Shahriar Hossain (0009-0002-9953-2527)
Año2017
Volumen93
Número6
Páginas1397-1416
Fecha de publicación2017-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Affairs (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0020-5850 • E-ISSN: 1468-2346
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ia/iix184
OpenAlexW2754559873
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas19
Referencias citadas4

This article explores the role big data plays in the national security decision-making process. The global surveillance disclosures initiated by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden have increased public and academic discussions about big data and national security. Yet, efforts to summarize and import insights from the vast and interdisciplinary literature on data analytics have remained rare in the field of security studies. To fill this gap, we explain the core characteristics of big data, provide an overview of the techniques and methods of data analytics, and explore how big data can support the core national security process of intelligence. Big data is not only defined by the volume of data but also by their velocity, variety and issues of veracity. Scientists have developed a number of techniques to extract information from big data and support national security practices. We find that data analytics tools contribute to and influence all the core intelligence functions in the contemporary US national security apparatus. However, these tools cannot replace the central role of humans and their ability to contextualize security threats. The fundamental value of big data lies in humans' ability to understand its power and mitigate its limits.

Analytics · Big data · Business Intelligence · Data science · Field (mathematics) · Knowledge management · National security · Political science · Process (computing) · Variety (cybernetics) · Big Data Technologies and Applications · Computer Science · Intelligence, Security, War Strategy