Membership

The Institute is open to all types of organisations from private sector corporations to non-profit charities. The Institute accredits government agencies, academic institutions and even other governing bodies and membership organisations similar to the Institute. For whatever reason an organisation may have developed an intelligence or intelligence support capability, the Institute is available to assist and develop its members.

To register for membership as an organisation all applicant organisations must undergo a capability assessment from an accredited assessor. This assessment may involve an escorted visit to the organisation's headquarters to demonstrate minimum standards are met and supervised interviews with randomly selected members of staff to demonstrate competency. When legal, policy or even geographic concerns prevent such a visit, mutually agreed third-parties have been trained as accredited assessors by the Institute to make the visit on the Institute's behalf and relay the conclusion.

There are three types of organisational membership, each of which confers different benefits accordingly:

• Membership by Proxy: Membership organisations, governance authorities and accrediting agencies apply for membership as Professional Affiliates. Meanwhile, intelligence agencies, departments or companies apply as Independently Assured Organisations (IAOs). Persons accredited by a Professional Affiliate or working for an IAO are considered de facto members by virtue of that status. They have the automatic right to be entered onto the Institute's professional register and do not have to meet any further obligations regarding membership.
• Qualification by Proxy: Educational bodies and training institutions apply for membership as Licensed Institutions. Licensed Institutions can award Institute qualifications and may enter graduates from their own courses onto the register as if those graduates had qualified at the Institute directly. However, once upon the register, graduates of Licensed Institutions must continue to demonstrate the same ongoing professional development and practice requirements as other members.

Intelligence practitioners are welcomed into the Institute from all sectors. Business intelligence analysts in the private sector, military surveillance officers, law-enforcement intelligence support officers and technical specialists from intelligence agencies to name just a few. Whatever an applicants background, the Institute is the first step in acquiring the professional development necessary for launching a European career.

To register as an independent member a candidate must first obtain a certificate from the Institute providing evidence that they have met the standards required for a membership designation:

• Education: An intelligence education equivalent to an accredited intelligence degree, approved qualifications, recognised accreditation for prior learning (APL) and/or other licensed qualifications covering all necessary competency domains.
• Training: At least 60 professional development hours in the year preceding application.
• Experience: At least three years of relevant European intelligence experience at no less than 450 hours per year.
• Examination: A passing grade in an approved entrance exam assessing the competency framework.

After acquiring a certificate, registration is automatically processed unless the applicant requests otherwise. Registration lapses after twelve months, but is easily renewed. There are two designations of individual membership that can be applied for, each of which confers different benefits accordingly:

• General Designations: Technically skilled intelligence practitioners who collect, analyse and disseminate intelligence within the scope of activity permissible by law apply for the general designation. Employers are assured in appointment decisions and benefit from the quality assurance and regulation framework that guarantees accountability, compliance and integrity in intelligence operations. Meanwhile, practitioners enjoy the highly competitive career advantages implicit to such assurances.
• Specialist Designations: Exclusive specialists in covert operations, these operatives undertake additional training, education and assessment in their dedicated area of professional practice. Employers benefit from the reduction in corporate risk, enhanced trust and public confidence in this high-risk and sensitive field. In addition to the mastery and influence that specialist designation commands, these practitioners can also leverage the covert support apparatus inherent to such an expansive global network.