Since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, academics have been called on for possible contributions to research relating to national (and possibly internat- nal) security. As one of the original founding mandates
of the National Science Foundation, mid- to long-term national security research in the areas of inf- mation technologies, organizational studies, and security-related public policy is critically needed. In a way similar to
how medical and biological research has faced signi?cant information overload and yet also tremendous opportunities for new inno- tion, law enforcement, criminal analysis, and intelligence communities are facing the same
challenge. We believe, similar to medical informatics and bioinf- matics, that there is a pressing need to develop the science of intelligence and security informatics – the study of the use and development of advanced
information technologies, systems, algorithms and databases for national se- rity related applications,through an integrated technological,organizational,and policy-based approach. We believe active intelligence and security
informatics research will help improve knowledge discovery and dissemination and enhance information s- ring and collaboration across law enforcement communities and among aca- mics, local, state, and federal agencies, and
industry. Many existing computer and information science techniques need to be reexamined and adapted for – tional security applications. New insights from this unique domain could result in signi?cant breakthroughs in new
data mining, visualization, knowledge – nagement, and information security techniques and systems.