WHAT PROBLEM DOES THE TOOL HELP SOLVE?

The huge amounts of data on social media++ can contain vital information that is relevant for people responsible for public safety – but this information very likely goes unnoticed because it is not humanly possible for people to monitor and analyse the huge volumes. Warnings of possible issues go unnoticed. The purpose of the tool is to increase efficiency and capacity when searching for accurate and relevant insights in the ocean of data published on the open web. As the software expedites data analyses, the user can run multiple search projects, thus expanding and/or fine-tuning their search to obtain more relevant outputs.

HOW IS IT DEPLOYED IN IMPETUS?

·         Who are the users: Intelligence analysts, tasked to give security centre operators early notice of possible dangerous situations/threats or monitoring the aftermath online, which can be of interest to other stakeholders such as government officials, senior level management, etc.

·         What are the critical situations for deployment: A 3-step process:

1.     Create a project of interest

2.     Acquire and analyse data

3.     Use the dashboard to send alerts when anomalies are detected

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The analyst first creates a project of the topic of their interest using search criteria, e.g. keywords. The tool retrieves massive volumes of data from social media platforms, websites, forums, etc. based on the search criteria. The tool analyses the data, removing unrelated content, and presents the most relevant insights/information for each project. The user receives a notification through the IMPETUS platform that the results have generated. The analyst can then filter and fine-tune the search criteria and results to get more specific and more relevant information. This tool will aid the end user in identifying any hidden threats, or notify the user if unrest is brewing.