FSC Chairpersonship and Troika Side Event Vienna, 19 June 2024

Mr Chair, thank you and the Troika for organising this event.

1.Today's side event topic of Emerging technologies and military data collection;Open-source intelligence is timely and a clear testimony to the impact it has on thepolitico-military matters that we are mandated to discuss in the FSC. We thank youfor putting this topic on today's agenda and are grateful to the distinguishedpanellists for their presentations.
2.Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is the practice of collecting and analysinginformation gathered from open sources to create a better understanding of aspecific situation. This aggregated information can support, for example, nationalsecurity, law enforcement and business and has clearly implications in the militarydomain and deserves this Forum's attention. OSINT can play an importantsupporting role in fact finding, for example during the investigation on the downingof Malaysian Airlines Flight 17.
3.OSINT uses various sources which can be divided up into six categories of information flow: public media, such as newspapers or television; internet, which does not only include electronic publications but also discussion fora and social media, public government data, professional and academic publications,commercial data and finally grey literature - technical reports, patents, business documents, unpublished works, and newsletters.
4.As such, OSINT relies on vast amount of data but collecting it without reorganising and qualifying it can reduce its value. There is a need to be able to easily access the data, but also trust that the information they are using can be relied upon to provide accurate results for the intended purpose.
5.This is key given that, as also acknowledged in the concept note for today, OSINT can be subject to disinformation, when false or misleading content is spread with an intention to deceive and may cause public harm as well as misinformation, with false or misleading content shared without harmful intent. Many actors continue their intentional, strategic and coordinated attempts tomanipulate facts, to confuse, and to sow division, mistrust, fear and hatred. The most obvious example is Russia, as we witness ourselves also in this Forum, trying to justify the unjustifiable - its war of aggression against Ukraine.
6.The use of OSINT is not at all new but the use of emerging technologies likeartificial intelligence could have a major influence on OSINT with a two-fold effect.On the one hand, AI can be used in amplifying the potential of Foreign InformationManipulation and Interference (FIMI) which could have an impact on reliability ofOSINT. For now, the recent 2nd EEAS Report on FIMI threats highlighted that eventhough at the moment AI usage is attention-grabbing, it is rather minimal and sofar it constituted an evolution rather than a revolution in conducting FIMI attacks.In these circumstances, existing response approaches remain applicable.Exploiting the high attention on AI risks may be the objective of attacks to distribute FIMI. In the end, responsible experimentation with generative AI tools may hold more benefits for defenders than attackers. On the other hand, AI with its ability togo through and analyse large amounts of data could have the potential of really amplifying the capability of OSINT in a transformative way.
7.The last element we would highlight today is ObSINT, the European Open Source Intelligence Organisations Observatory, a hub of resources for the OSINT community. ObSINT is conducted in the framework of the European Fact Checking Standards Network (EFCSN), supported by the European Union. ObSINT has developed Guidelines for Public Interest OSINT Investigation, which aim to provide organisations conducting open-source investigations with a framework of good practices and an opportunity to reflect on and potentially refine their methodology,tools, skills, documentation and working environments.
8.Today's speakers' interventions showed the implications open source intelligence has for several aspects of our politico-military agenda. It would clearly merit further attention as well as continued discussion in the FSC in the future.
Thank you.