www.defensegroupinc.com/cira
Biography
Kevin O'Connell is the Director of the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis (CIRA) in
Washington, D.C. and Vice President for Intelligence Community Programs with Defense Group Incorporated. His professional
interests include national security decision-making, intelligence and intelligence policy issues, and the policy, security,
and market issues related to commercial remote sensing. Mr. O'Connell serves on a number of senior government panels,
including the DHS Information Policy Board and a DARPA-NGA panel. He is also the Chairman of NOAA's Federal Advisory
Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing (ACCRES) and previously served as the staff Director of the Independent Commission
on the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) (1999-2000). Mr. O'Connell also served as the first Director of RAND's
Intelligence Policy Center (2001-2004) during almost a decade at RAND.
Mr. O'Connell joined the Department of Defense in November 1982, and served in various positions as
a senior staff officer and intelligence analyst. In 1986, he joined the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research
as a research analyst. In 1990, he was assigned as the Senior Analyst in the White House Situation Room, National Security
Council, and later served as a Special Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs. From 1993-1995, Mr.
O'Connell served on the Community Management Staff of the Director of Central Intelligence, where he was responsible for
assessing non-traditional intelligence activities, including the DCI's Openness initiative. Mr. O'Connell then spent almost
ten years with RAND in both research and managerial capacities.
Mr. O'Connell graduated from the Ohio State University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in
International Studies. He also undertook graduate training in national security studies at George Washington University,
and received a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Maryland in 1992.
Mr. O'Connell's recent research activities have included various research assessments for the U.S.
intelligence community, including collection, analysis, and intelligence-sharing issues. He has also led research efforts
on the market and security issues associated with commercial remote sensing. He has lectured and taught extensively about
intelligence, including at the RAND Graduate School and Georgetown University.
Mr. O'Connell has authored a number of papers and monographs, largely in the areas of intelligence
and commercial remote sensing. He has recently written an article on "thinking comparatively about intelligence" as well
as maintaining an "information edge in intelligence, in addition to reports on the U.S. commercial remote sensing industry.
His edited volume, entitled "
Commercial Observation Satellites: At the Leading Edge of Global
Transparency," was published in April 2000 by RAND and ASPRS.
Mr. O'Connell received a Sustained Superior Performance Award form the U.S. National Security
Advisor for his work in the White House Situation Room. He has received a Distinguished Speaker Award from the Department
of Defense. He also received the Outstanding Service Award from the American Society for Photo grammetry and Remote Sensing in 2002.
