# Collection Plan Template

Copy this to plan a collection effort before running any discipline. The plan turns the compendium
from a course into an operation: fill the six instantiation variables, pick the two or three
disciplines that feed your decision (never all eight), and set the cadence to how fast each
evidence channel actually changes. **If [DECISION] is blank, stop — research without a decision is
a hobby.**

## Template

```markdown
# Collection Plan: [TARGET] / [CAPABILITY]

## Instantiation
[TARGET]      = [the competitor, partner, or acquirer]
[MARKET]      = [category + NAICS/SIC/NACE codes or nearest equivalent]
[GEOGRAPHY]   = [regions in scope, at COUNTRY level]
[BUYER]       = [who signs the check]
[CAPABILITY]  = [the strategic move you suspect]
[DECISION]    = [what this research will change — REQUIRED]

## Discipline Selection
_Pick from the artifact-mapping table — run the disciplines that feed the decision, not all eight._

| Discipline | Running? | Why (which signal chains) | Key sources (free first) |
|---|---|---|---|
| OSINT | | | |
| FININT | | | |
| GEOINT/DEMOINT | | | |
| TECHINT | | | |
| HUMINT | | | |
| SIGINT | | | |
| MASINT | | | |

## Cadence
- Weekly (SIGINT sweep, ~30 min): [what gets checked]
- Monthly (OSINT + HUMINT digest): [what gets checked]
- Quarterly (FININT + TECHINT deep pass): [what gets checked]
- Event-driven (react within 48h): [which tripwires]

## Fusion Table (fill as signals land)
| Discipline | Signal found | Label | Source URL + date |
|---|---|---|---|
| | | | |

**Fusion verdict:** ____ disciplines, one story → [watch item / working hypothesis / actionable] → recommended response: ____

## Provenance & Guardrails
- Every signal archived at collection time (portals restructure; files get replaced)
- All sources published, filed, posted, or publicly observable — the stage test applies to every method
```

## Quality checks before you call it done

- [DECISION] is filled in and specific — it selects the disciplines and defines "enough"
- Two or three disciplines are marked Running, with chain-level reasons — eight checkmarks means no plan
- The fusion verdict uses the stacking rule (1 = watch, 2 = hypothesis, 3+ = actionable, conflict = dig)
- Announcements in the fusion table are labeled intent until FININT/MASINT/HUMINT corroborate