Speakers & Organizers   

www.OutwardInsights.com Biography
Kenneth Sawka is a renowned expert in competitive intelligence, early warning systems, and competitive strategy. He is both a successful intelligence consultant and practitioner, having established, implemented, and managed competitive intelligence programs with corporations across a variety of industries, including pharmaceuticals, information technology, financial services, and consumer products. As a Principal at Outward Insights – a leading competitive intelligence and strategy consulting firm – Ken works with clients to help them gain greater value from competitive intelligence and develop strategies that are resilient against external challenges. Ken has been featured on CNBC's Squawk Box, and CN8's Nitebeat news magazine program, and he also has been quoted extensively on matters of competitive strategy and intelligence in Time, Investors Business Daily, American Banker, and other prominent journals.

Prior to joining Outward Insights, Ken directed pricing and competitive analysis for the consulting function at Deloitte, one of the world's leading professional services firms. Ken also served as a practice leader in Deloitte's Global Strategy and Operations Group, managing the delivery of services in strategy development, competitive analysis, and scenario planning for clients in the telecommunications, healthcare, and financial services industries. Prior to joining Deloitte, Ken held senior leadership positions with two boutique consulting firms, specializing in practice management, business development, and staff development. Ken also served eight years as an intelligence analyst with the US Central Intelligence Agency. He is a member of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals – having served on the Society's Board of Directors from 1999 – 2002 – and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. Ken is also an adjunct faculty member at Simmons College, Boston.Ken holds a Masters Degree in International Relations and a Bachelors Degree in Political Science, cum laude, from The American University.

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Session BI14:
Facing Common Challenges: Intelligence Issues Confronting Business and Government, and Methods for Tackling Them
February 18, 14:00 - 14:45 Abstract:
More and more, the lines between business and government intelligence issues are blurring. US companies today are finding a need to gather and analyze intelligence on foreign competition, regional and global political developments, global technology transfer, and other similar issues. Meanwhile, US Government policymakers continue to need economic intelligence on foreign companies, national trade policies and practices, and capital flows and investments. Given the increasing commonality of intelligence issues, what can business and government intelligence professionals learn from each other? In this presentation, Kenneth Sawka – a recognized expert in competitive and business intelligence and a former DI analyst – will discuss tools and methods for intelligence analysis that both business and government practitioners can employ on common issues and challenges. He will cite examples from both business and government – including a US company's efforts to anticipate trade and commercial conditions impacting Chinese business competitors as well as the US Government's efforts to better understand the economics and business strategy of Airbus – that illustrate common approaches to challenging intelligence problems.