A series of ACIA Masterclasses were hosted by Danielle Williams throughout summer 2023, with planning underway for the rollout of a further series in the near future. Dani was an intelligence analyst in policing for 17 years and came to love structured analytical techiques (SATs) after working in the National Assessment Centre. The webinars were designed to provide an insight into the value of SATs in general, as well as practical guidance for analysts in relation to how and when to use specific tactical and strategic SATs.
Structured Analytical Techniques and why they are awesome
The first in the series of SATs webinars. Many analysts don’t feel they have time to do SATs or that they aren’t useful. However, Dani loves them and used this webinar as an opportunity to convince participants of the value of SATs. SATs can easily be woven into you work, helping you be more productive and giving you the ability to solidly defend your inferences, conclusions and recommendations.
SATs for tactical analysts
This masterclass demonstrated how to use techniques such as the analysis of competing hypotheses, SWOT analysis, and crime scripting.
SATS for strategic analysts
The third in the series of webinars focused on the process of undertaking cones of plausibility, backcasting, forcefield analysis, and when to use these techniques. The session also covered the use of appropriate language to communicate uncertainty using the probability yardstick.