Despite heading into the cooler months, the Southern Region banded together in April for a warm welcome to NZIIP 2025, hosted by the renowned Subject Matter Expert in the Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) space – Peter Tyson.
With over thirty Canterbury-based intelligence practitioners and enthusiasts from both the public and private sector mingling at New Regent Street’s picturesque Gin Gin, it was a fantastic way to kick off the year. Peter’s presentation identified both broad and specific benefits of OSINT for practitioners and the intelligence profession. He discussed ways to earn some quick wins as an analyst working within the OSINT space, looked at how OSINT can be used to strengthen or add value to intelligence assessments, and cast our glance towards the future of OSINT within our organisations. In between some entertaining success stories, Peter answered the question we’ve all been asking – no, robots will not be taking our jobs (yet!).
Pete’s engaging discussion provided ways in which analysts can utilise technology, open-source, and artificial intelligence to enhance our work, rather than shying away from what many consider to be the great unknown. Following the Q+A, the room was buzzing with practitioners nibbling on pizzettas whilst considering the role of OSINT in their respective organisations, and how we can learn from and adapt our approaches based on other agencies’ learnings.
A huge thank you to Peter for contributing his time and expertise, despite coming straight after having facilitated a fairly rigorous training course. Additionally, thanks to the membership of NZIIP Canterbury, we hope you had a fabulous night and look forward to catching up again soon!