The Role of Information and Communication Technology in Competitive Intelligence

Abstract

This chapter discusses the role of ICT for competitive intelligence activities. To this end, it starts with an introduction to competitive intelligence. Next, it discusses possible uses of ICT for intelligence activities. In this discussion attention is paid to the use of the Internet, to general purpose ICT tools, to ICT tools tailored to one or more of the intelligence stages, and to business intelligence tools (data warehouses and tools to retrieve and present data in them). Finally, the chapter describes how organizations may select ICT applications to support their intelligence activities.