Safeguards information challenges

Full text: Overall, the aim of this paper is to provide the background and the broader vision in which the various information related presentations and posters proposed by the Department find their place, exploring solutions to the challenges faced. At a time when the Agency is expected to be a reference for the assessment of nuclear proliferation threats, providing the international community with independent, impartial, timely and credible conclusions that no declared nuclear material is diverted to non-peaceful purposes and that no undeclared nuclear material or activities exist in States, it has to address major challenges with regard to information. Drawing credible conclusions assumes that all relevant information is accessible and put into relevant context. Because of the legal constraints under which it operates, the limitation of resources for collecting existing but difficult to reach details and simply because of the overwhelming quantity of the information needed to properly evaluate proliferation issues, the Agency has to continually improve the way it collects, processes and internally disseminates safeguards relevant information. Developing a coherent picture of a State's nuclear capability is a complex process based on many experts' assessments and fusion of information. The search for better, broader and deeper information through dedicated collection processes is an ongoing effort aimed at filling the gaps of such pictures. Implementing well selected information collection tools is a sine qua non to render effective the Agency's detection capabilities. Beyond collection, another prerequisite to ensuring that the available information is accessible to those who need to know is the establishment of a proper information system architecture and an efficient set of standard business processes. At the same time, that information must be sufficiently protected by appropriate security measures, particularly at a time when private hacking has become a recognized intellectual sport, and institutional security attacks can be politically motivated by the wish to weaken the organization's credibility. In any case, ultimately, all information processing is aimed at deriving the focused knowledge needed by all individuals who will contribute to the organization's mission, through field activities or headquarters investigations, addressing the world's concerns by appropriate answers. Moreover, this knowledge must survive the assault of time, given that proliferation issues might have acquired their sources decades before being identified. (author)