Robert David Steele

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For other people named Robert Steele, see Robert Steele (disambiguation).
Robert David Steele

Robert David Steele presents at The Last HOPE July 20, 2008
Born July 16, 1952 (1952-07-16) (age 56)
Flag of the United States New York City, New York
Occupation Open source intelligence advocate.
Website
http://www.oss.net

Robert David Steele Vivas (b. July 16, 1952 New York City), is known for his promotion of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT).[1] He is a former Marine Corps infantry and intelligence officer for twenty years and was the second-ranking civilian (GS-14) in U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence from 1988-1992.[citation needed] Steele is a former clandestine services case officer with the Central Intelligence Agency.[2] He is the founder and CEO of OSS.Net, Inc. as well as the Golden Candle Society. Steele also was a member of the Adjunct Faculty of Marine Corps University in the mid-1990s.

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[edit] Career

He spent his early years, two decades, in Latin America and Asia as the son of an oil company executive. Steele has an BA in Political Science; an MA in International Relations; and an MPA in Public Administration. He resigned from the military in 1993.

He is commonly associated[weasel words] with the Open source intelligence (OSINT) movement and coined the terms "virtual intelligence" and "information peacekeeping." He argues that U.S. intelligence reform is needed, and that the private sector can perform a high percentage of U.S. open source intelligence needs and reduce cost to the U.S. Government. He advocates "collective intelligence" or "the wisdom of the crowd" (what Howard Rheingold calls "smart mobs") and for hackers as a national resource.

Steele, an international proponent of OSINT, argues that both reports, while recent, still ignore his decades of advocacy for a proper national focus on OSINT from 1988 to date. He further argues that the Central Intelligence Agency has refused to take open source information seriously for decades, and shouldn't be charged with developing new capabilities that are totally outside its existing culture of secrecy.[citation needed]

[edit] Books self-published by Steele

  • On Intelligence: Spies and Secrecy in an Open World (AFCEA, 2000). ISBN 0-9715661-0-0.
  • The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political (OSS, 2002). ISBN 0-9715661-1-9.
  • Information Operations: All Information, All Languages, All the Time (OSS, 2005). ISBN 0-9715661-3-5.
  • The Smart Nation Act: Public Intelligence in the Public Interest (OSS, 2006). ISBN 0-9715661-3-2.
  • Peacekeeping Intelligence: Emerging Concepts for the Future (OSS, 2003). Contributing editor with Ben de Jong and Wies Platje. ISBN 0-9715661-2-7.

[edit] Film appearances

  • Steele is prominently featured in the 2007 documentary American Drug War: The Last White Hope.
  • He also appeared in two french documentaries : "Les Hackers" (English translation :"Hackers"), on the TV channel National Geographic, and "Le Monde selon Bush" (English translation : "The World according to Bush"), on the TV channel Paris Première.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Wired article How to Restore Spies Credibility: Go Open Source published December 14, 2007
  2. ^ Agee, Philip. Inside the Company: CIA Diary. Penguin Books, 1975. ISBN 0-14-004007-2 p. 528

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_David_Steele"
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