Dr. Dalene Duvenage
IAFIE Intelligence Education Interview Series - Dr. Dalene Duvenage
Interviewer: IAFIE Volunteer
Table of Contents:
Question 1). Let’s start with the basics. How would you like to present yourself to the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE)?
Question 2). Can you share with our readers what inspired you to pursue the field of intelligence?
Question 3). You have held various leadership roles in the field. What would you say are the best characteristics/traits that make an effective leader?
Question 4). You have such an outstanding background in international relations and politics. Can you share with our students/readers how your academic experience has played a crucial part in your professional roles?
Question 5). Dr. Duvenage, you have extensive professional and academic experience in the field. Can you share with our readers what makes a great analyst?
Question 6). Dr. Duvenage, I had the privilege of reading your publication, The Professional Identity of Security Risk Intelligence Analysts in the Private Sector: An International Perspective. What would you say was the most valuable lesson learned from conducting your study?
Question 7). How do you see the future of intelligence and analysis, and how should educators orient themselves? (for example, curricula).
Question 8). What work do you believe is most representative of your professional life, and what can future analysts, researchers, and intelligence practitioners learn from it?
Question 9). What advice or suggestions would you give our readers/students who are interested in the intelligence field ? (for example: becoming an analyst and where to start?)
Question 10). Five keywords that represent you?
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Interview Introduction: In this compelling interview, Dr. Dalene Duvenage discusses her academic and professional path in the field, providing insight into her career as an analyst, and advice to the next generation of IC careerists and intelligence education educators. Dr. Duvenage, we thank you once again for participating in IAFIE’s Intelligence Education Interview series. You have and continue to be an essential part of IAFIE’s development over the last many years, representing an important part of the African region, and we extend our appreciation to you for sharing your insight and impact on the field to inspire and educate our members for years to come! Dr. Duvenage, it is my privilege to introduce you to our readers.
Question 1). Let’s start with the basics. How would you like to present yourself to the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE)?
I’m a South African pracademic who has worked in national security, the private sector, and international organisations as an analyst, training and development specialist, and manager. I was also an Intelligence Studies professor at Mercyhurst University for 2.5 years. I’m passionate about intelligence analysis and the professional development of intelligence and related career groups.
Question 2). Can you share with our readers what inspired you to pursue the field of intelligence?
My dad and my history teacher fostered an interest in politics in me. Growing up in South Africa during the apartheid years made an indelible impression on me and my understanding of the complex world we live in. In 1988, the South African Intelligence Service recruited me as an analyst straight from a university, where I studied International Relations. My natural pathway was to be an analyst in East and Southern Africa for nearly 10 years, and I loved being part of the intelligence apparatus that helped to usher in our new democracy. By then, I mentored new analysts after the 1995 integration of the intelligence services and became a trainer soon afterwards. I loved researching, teaching, and sharing the why and how we are doing intelligence analysis. I could translate this passion into the private and humanitarian sectors, which started to use analytical skills in their security risk management processes.
Integrity, self-awareness, communication, and grace. My primary responsibility is to get the job done by creating a safe environment where my team feels challenged to be their best, with enough opportunity for learning, collaboration, and celebration. When not in a management position, I see myself as a lateral leader who tries to energize people to work effectively in a team and influence a process positively. I have no time or patience with self-absorbed, egotistical, and bureaucratic managers. The best leaders I had in my career were always pragmatic people who challenged me to do and be better and gave me space to be creative.
My political risk analysis background laid the foundation for my whole career because it helped me understand the complexity of human and state behaviour. And of course, politics (or power) is at the essence of everything that happens in the world, and being “plugged in” or staying abreast of world developments makes sense as an intel officer. I integrated those skills with my passion for the professional development of intelligence officers and soon was responsible for qualification and curriculum development. I only started to study further after my two sons were older – I got my M.Phil. (Information and Knowledge Management) When I was 45 and my Doctorate when I was 56!
My masters opened my mind to new concepts like complexity, organizational sensemaking, and the world outside traditional intelligence. I quickly realized that intelligence (how we understand the world and communicate that to decision-makers) is applicable across disciplines. I resigned from the intelligence agency and started my intelligence training and consulting business in 2007 – the first in Africa! I could now translate and teach our methodology and thinking skills to a broader audience who needed to understand the threats that impact their mandate or bottom line – whether they were police departments, military units, national security, or the private sector.
After 7 years, I was appointed to our central bank to start up a security threat analysis unit and later, a security risk management unit. Again, it became clear that the “threat identification and analysis” phase of SRM is intelligence analysis, but on specific threats within a particular mandate or area of responsibility. For the first time, I could see how the analysis process feeds into and guides the development and implementation of countermeasures and the monitoring and governance of the process. Also, our thinking skills, both our attention to detail and our strategic thinking, make us valuable assets to any organization. I decided to see how “far” I could take this realization and completed a Professional Doctorate in Security Risk Management, focusing on the lived experiences of analysts in the private sector doing this specific function. My professional identity research has helped me to integrate and strengthen those skills, traits, passions, and job-crafting strategies to mentor students and help them become more employable as intelligence officers. I also use this research to coach managers and my colleagues on better ways to get the most out of their analysts. I might just write a book about it one day!
A passionate learner – someone who is inquisitive, thinks critically, and is a good communicator. My best analysts were self-driven, plugged in, collaborative, could write well, and willing to take on new challenges. My worst analysts were either pompous know-it-alls who told clients what they knew, not what decision-makers needed to know, or someone who only wanted a 9-to-5 job. That isn't good for team spirit and impacts collaboration and the quality of our deliverables.
On a personal note, my research was the first to study intelligence analysts in the private sector. It’s a great privilege to be considered a trailblazer in this field. In terms of the discipline, I would say the main lesson learned was that analysts in the private sector are genuinely unique in the sense that they must be analysts, marketers, influencers, intelligence collectors, tech gurus, liaison officers, etc., all in one! Their passion for their chosen profession enables them to manoeuvre around obstacles that you would not usually find in the government sector. I met some wonderful people who are still making a difference in keeping their company or sector’s employees, processes, and premises safe. The collective professional identity is also growing by leaps and bounds, with more positions opening and more opportunities for collaborating and learning from each other. I feel that the national security and law enforcement analysts can definitely learn from their counterparts in the private sector.
Our theoretical foundation is excellent, and we should continue expanding and improving intelligence theories. However, we have to keep up with new developments when it comes to applied intelligence courses. With the expansion of AI and the oversaturation of information, our role as intelligence analysts becomes more critical. In the real world, decision-makers will quickly ask ChatGPT about the current situation in Syria instead of reading the newest analysis document. We must get their attention back! The decision-makers will always need critical thinkers who can cut through the disinformation and noise and provide on-time, well-rounded, and insightful analysis. However, we must change how we deliver our analysis in a credible and user-friendly way. For training and educators, we should increase our efforts to teach students to be explicit in their reasoning with facts or assumptions. We must increase the focus on the skills to discuss or verbalise critical thinking to prepare students to counter disinformation while talking to a decision-maker.
Writing will still be crucial for clients who want longer documents, but for the rest, we will have to teach visualization techniques and multimedia use. For example, I just did a 3-month-long research project on a global forecast for the next 3 years. Previously, the deliverable would have been a 50-plus-page document. Now, I only had an Excel sheet with the inputs that I could filter according to the different variables, and the final deliverable was a PowerPoint video. I suggest adding modules or integrated learning outcomes where students are taught to move effortlessly between different communication modes. Let them do a range of deliverables for the final assessment, from 2 to 6-page analyses to TikTok videos or a Tweet!
I would also add appropriate basic coding skills or exposure to tools that will enable analysts to create their own feeds and watchlists from OSINT. There are not that many organisations that can afford expensive OSINT aggregators or other analytical tools. Also, a course on how to use AI to streamline or enrich the analyst workflow will be a winner! And, of course, more internships and exposure to professionals in the field. Students form their professional identity during their studies, and we need to make sure we push the right calibre entrant into the labour force.
The chapter “Professionalising Intelligence in Africa” in the book Contemporary Intelligence in Africa was the culmination of my career so far. I poured my passion for Africa, my experiences working with and training counterparts on the continent, and my understanding of the impact of politicisation on the well-being of intelligence officers worldwide into that chapter. I argue that intelligence professionals should not be fixated on the unattainable ideal of fulfilling the requirements of a profession. Rather, we should act professionally, both individually and collectively, by adhering to the rule of law, being objective, fulfilling our function with integrity, and continually improving our skills and knowledge despite possible political interference and organisational incompetence. I make realistic proposals to strengthen organisational and individual professionalisation that could act as a bulwark against the continuing democratic deficits across the world. In this way, the profession will gain respect and recognition amongst our peers, clients, and the citizenry we ultimately serve.
I’ve learned through my 36 years in intelligence that this field can be a home for many different breeds and types, in academic studies, backgrounds, personality types, etc. But we all share the following: a passion to serve something greater than ourselves, the ability to think creatively and critically, and communicate effectively, and above all, inquisitiveness and integrity. Hone these skills, be passionate about your field, look for opportunities to apply it across disciplines, and find your niche.
Question 10). Five keywords that represent you?
Go-getter, caring, collaborative, thinker, believer.