20 Years Later, Assessing the Value of the ODNI

EXPERT INTERVIEWS — The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) marks an anniversary today — 20 years since its creation as the top oversight entity within the U.S. intelligence community (IC).

The ODNI was born in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks and the flawed intelligence that led to 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, and given a mandate to correct “single-threaded intelligence reporting and analysis” and better integrate intelligence collected by the rest of the IC. It was tasked with other roles: a convening authority to bring the IC’s disparate agencies together to confront challenges; the preparation of the Presidential Daily Brief; the determining of the overall intelligence budget; and acting as a public voice for the IC writ large.