1. Target Audience

This practical, interactive workshop is designed for professionals with responsibilities or a working interest in national security analysis and assessment at all levels. No formal prerequisites are required; however, participants are expected to have a general understanding of geopolitics and national security.

Certified by the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE), this practical course will upskill you in the use of analysis and assessment tools and techniques. It will enable you to immediately operationalise your new knowledge and enhance decision making by applying a combination of critical thinking skills and structured analysis.

2. Duration

Up to 3 days.

3. Delivery Mode

Virtual / client workplace / off-site classroom

4. Aims

Drawing on the UK Government’s Professional Head of Intelligence Assessment (PHIA) team’s best practice, through interactive sessions and group discussions, you will learn how to apply analytical rigour and Structured Analytic Techniques (SATs) to your own work. Training scenarios are nuanced to suit your needs and could include countering hostile state activity or financial crime, defending critical national infrastructure, scenario generation and horizon scanning, and more. Your learning will be put to the test during demanding but enjoyable syndicate exercises that will challenge you to produce robust assessments in a professional, collaborative environment. Content includes:

• PHIA Analytic Standards;

• PHIA Professional Development Framework;

• Probability Yardstick;

• Assessment Confidence Levels;

• Assumptions and Biases;

• Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH);

• Key Assumptions Check (KAC);

• Morphological Analysis;

• Backcasting, and more.

5. Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the differences between analysis and assessment, information and intelligence.

• Describe the different stages of the intelligence cycle and how they appear in their own work.

• Recognise and act against the dangers of assumptions and bias.

• Select and use Structured Analytical Techniques (SATs) correctly.

• Produce rigorous intelligence assessments from different sources of information.

These five learning objectives are designed to contribute to achieving three outcomes:

• Increased operational effectiveness through more-informed decision-making.

• Better validated and leveraged sources

• Better quality assessments valued by a range of intelligence customers.