| September 20, 2001 | 03 00050 61 01092002 |
Mr. Pat Lincoln
Director
Lincoln@csl.sri.com
Computer Science Laboratory
SRI International
333 Ravenswood Avenue
Menlo Park, CA 94025
| Subject: | SDS Intelligence Initiative |
Dear Pat,
Thanks for your letter confirming understandings from our call today on moving forward with SDS.
There has been a sea change in perspective as a result of tragic events on September 11, 2001. People will become increasingly open to the proposition that we have to work "smarter." As markets decline, and as unemployment and anxiety about security grow, willingness to improve increases, as noted in Andy Grove's book Only the Paranoid Survive. This may bring sufficient will to overcome fear of accountability that prevents adding intelligence to management, recognizing that the only security against accountability for mistakes is to strengthen understanding of cause and effect, so that mistakes are avoided.
We must continue to carry the message that knowledge is a better strategy than ignorance in business and government, and that "intelligence" is essential to convert the liability of information overload into a powerful asset of knowledge, as we discussed on May 17, 2001. SRI has a unique opportunity to advance this cause by supporting SDS. Look forward to receiving your letter, and suggest we work by refining initial drafts to reach a final product.
THE WELCH COMPANY
Rod Welch
rowelch@attglobal.net