摘要：Intelligence analysts routinely work with "wicked" problems¡ªcritical,time-sensitive problems whereanalytical errors can lead to catastrophic consequences for the nation's security. In the analyst's world,important decisions are often made quickly, and are made based on consuming, understanding, andpiecing together enormous volumes of data. The data is not only voluminous, but often fragmented,subjective, inaccurate and fluid.Why does multi-player on-line gaming (MMOG) technology matterto the IC. Fundamentally, there are two reasons. The first is technological: stripping away thegamelike content, MMOGs are dynamic systems that represent a physical world, where users arepresented with (virtual) life-and-death challenges that can only be overcome through planning,collaboration and communication. The second is cultural: the emerging generation of analysts is partof what is sometimes called the "Digital Natives" (Prensky 2001) and is fluent with interactive media.MMOGs enable faster visualization, data manipulation, collaboration and analysis than traditionaltext and imagery.ICWorld is an MMOG approach to intelligence analysis that fuses ideasfrom expertsin the fields of gaming and data visualization, with knowledge of current and future intelligenceanalysis processes and tools. The concept has evolved over the last year as a result of evaluations byallsource analysts from around the IC. When fully developed, the Forterra team believes that ICWorldwill fundamentally address major shortcomings of intelligence analysis, and dramatically improve theeffectiveness of intelligence products
