Isabelle Tisserand: Making Intelligence Smarter

One of the most important attributes of human intelligence is the ability to adapt.

However, in today’s contemporary information technology-driven era, humanity’s ability to adjust is being fundamentally challenged as we struggle to maintain control over the complex multi-agent models that are inherent in the various applications and services that have emerged.

One challenge that plagues the world today involves coping with the rapid evolution of technology and the emergence of new practices. Just how can we manage the complexity and volume of information that is available in the world today? The key to our ability to do so lies in co-responsibility and co-adaptation and the emergence of collective human practices.

For this blog post, I am proud to introduce you to Dr. Isabelle Tisserand, Anthropologue de formation, experte en sécurité-défense et vice-présidente du département de cybersécurité satellitaire et spatiale de 3i3s.

Dr. Isabelle Tisserand works at Defense and Security, Research and Innovation, Space Defense – Recherche et Innovation-Ministère. She is a very resilient, well educated, and disciplined woman who operates at the highest professional level while maintaining an air of elegance and poise. She has engaged in an extraordinary professional career that is characterized by a relentless pursuit of excellence. In addition to coordinating the European Information Systems Security Circle, Dr. Isabelle was part of the European Commission's security expert staff and provides her expertise to the French National Agency for Research. Furthermore, she is also a professor at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Economiques et Commerciales (INSEEC), has extensive experience of helping large companies and institutions manage asset security, and has even had the honor of working and learning alongside the likes of Jacques and Claude Lévi-Strauss.

We met Dr. Isabelle Tisserand at the French la Garde républicaine in Paris. She was warm and welcoming and shared fascinating stories of her vast experience in the security services and her vision for the future of security defense in the aerospace field.

She described how advanced defense and intelligence services play a critical role in protecting the most important patrimony of the contemporary world: information, and shared her views on how humans should engage with information moving forward.

Learning should be reflective

To improve society, it is essential that we allow freedom of thought and create a space in which people are permitted, and encouraged, to think differently. Reflection is critical. It is the first sign of human intention, and it demonstrates our acknowledgment that we do have choices and can exercise our preferences over what we believe and do. It is not just a matter of having free access to information; we need to have access to high-quality, factual information on which we can make sound judgments.

Learning should be efficient

There is also a need for us to learn how to filter the information that is available. Most people stop learning when they find that the learning process is no longer efficient. They may feel like they are wasting their time because they do not witness significant improvement in the quantity and quality of the results and/or encounter complexity. This can demotivate learners and prematurely terminate their learning experiences. It is for this reason that learning needs to be efficient.

Learning should be collective

To progress, we need to place a distinct focus on securing high-quality information. Key challenges in achieving this objective are monitoring and controlling the rapidly evolving socio-technical systems. This involves collaboration and cooperation. Human beings need to extend their abilities to process key components of information and knowledge. The development of new systems of education and training is not enough; we need to encourage people to engage on an international scale.

Knowledge management should be underpinned by conceptual tools that support ongoing investigations. The development of collective intelligence involves preserving the value information holds for an individual or organization. Our future hinges on our ability to rebuild our communication structures and collaborate across all sectors of society to create an inclusive vision for the future.

Every single member of society at every single level needs to take responsibility for redefining what it means to be working and what it means to be human.

People need to act and feel responsible.

The need to bridge international practices as a means of evolving sophisticated information systems that efficiently combine information while overcoming the internal and external challenges that exist lies at the heart of the future of security, defense and intelligence.

The degree to which this can be achieved will hinge on the ability of the security and defense community to adapt to changes and communicate in an effective and efficient manner. Undoubtedly, the challenges are vast; however, the defense community stands as a testament to its ability to overcome problems and emerge stronger.

The environment in which the professionals of strategic informations are operating may be changing at a rapid rate, but the basic goals that underpin their activities remain consistent. Remaining dedicated to achieving these goals will likely hold the key to emerging triumphant.

Cheers!

Many thanks to:

I would like to thank the Général de division Damien STRIEBIG commandant at the French La Garde Républicaine for authorizing this interview at the la Garde républicaine in the Quartier Des Célestins in Paris which has been a truly inspirational experience.

The Republican Guard is part of the French Gendarmerie. It is responsible for providing guards of honor for the State and security in the Paris area.

Dr. Isabelle Tisserand

Anthropologue de formation, experte en sécurité-défense et vice-présidente du département de cybersécurité satellitaire et spatiale de 3i3s. Dr. Isabelle works at Defense and Security, Research and Innovation, Space Defense – Recherche et Innovation-Ministère.

Professor at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Economiques et Commerciales (INSEEC)