2. For future crises, consider utilizing unclassified open access online data-sharing repositories that do
not require a common access card (such as the PiX-Syria) to facilitate real-time information sharing
that can be updated by a variety of stakeholders involved in the effort.
Implications.
If there is not a mechanism for civil information management (CIM), then efforts of various
agencies/organizations may not be fully understood across the USG and partners, or they may be
duplicated. In the case of humanitarian support to impartial actors such as the Syrian Civil Defense
Units, partner nations' efforts may conflict if they are not provided with adequate information about
other simultaneous diplomatic, development, and humanitarian efforts in the same area.
Event Description.
This lesson was based on the article “Civil Information Sharing in the Gray Zone,” Major N.
Alexander, Major A. Moore, and Captain A. Sogge, Special Warfare, (June 2016).
Additional Comments.
For further information on information-sharing between various organizations and agencies, read
this resource: United States Institute of Peace (USIP)'s Guide for Participants in Peace, Stability, and
Relief Operations, (2007).
This guide asserts that, "NGOs are sensitive about sharing information. They see their long-term
success and physical security as dependent on good and open relationships with the indigenous
population and are consequently wary of compromising the trust they have established by providing
information to the military" (p. 123). Furthermore, the guide claims that, "In Afghanistan, some
NGOs claimed the involvement of coalition military Civil Affairs teams in village improvement
projects blurred the distinction between combatants and relief workers, endangering their personnel"
(p. 104).
As such, for civil information-sharing projects in which CA personnel are involved, it is essential that
such potential concerns of various NGOs are taken into account when deciding whether and how to
utilize information from NGOs. It is important to consider 2nd and 3rd order effects (on various
organizations and on the impartiality of humanitarian aid) of having uniformed military personnel
being the ones coordinating the sharing of information.
Lesson Author: Katrina Gehman, Lessons Learned Analyst (Ctr), PKSOI
Table of Contents | Quick Look | Contact PKSOI
10