Episode #15: Open-Source Intelligence

Dr. Yong-Bee Lim, Deputy Director, Converging Risks Lab & Biosecurity Projects Manager, Council on Strategic Risks

July 24, 2024

In this episode, we discuss the availability and use of open-source data to monitor BWC-related activities. Dr. Lim is leading a study to identify tools, techniques, and sources to support the ability to identify, track, and evaluate biological activities using publicly available information. Open-source analysis of biological activities, facilities, programs, and capabilities has been revolutionized through the convergence of radically expanded public access to data previosuly only available to state-level intelligence agencies and the emergence of advanced analytic tools, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). These new capabilities potentially offer civil society experts—or state governments without advanced intelligence programs—the opportunity to identify trends and patterns in data that can provide insight into the nature of biological activities.