Fusing Textual Intelligence—

Department of Defense

Analysts monitoring adversary communications traditionally transcribe them as text for further review. The value of these written reports could be greatly enhanced if significant information could be extracted automatically and then combined with other types of data, but text is notoriously difficult for machines to process.

Extracting Information from Text

Under contract to the Department of Defense, CCRi developed a series of programs that not only extract information from text, but also integrate it with other sources of data for greater situational awareness.

CCRi developed a front-end application that distills text into essential elements of information (EEI) that relate to a particular area of interest. For instance, in tracking ground vehicles, declared identity and intention are EEIs, as are declared destinations and estimated times of arrival. The application identifies the EEIs, extracts them automatically, and translates them into forms that can be fused with other sources of data like radar.

Combining Text and Context

To augment the data fusion effort, CCRi developed Associated Knowledge Source (AKS) software to process the EEIs. AKS contains multiple databases, each of which provides a resident body of knowledge for a specific problem domain. AKS assembles the EEIs into concepts of interest that are tracked and refined using available domain knowledge.

In essence, the front-end application normalizes textual intelligence into forms more amenable to automated data fusion. This information provides tentative information about a target's identity and activities. AKS fuses this data with other information producing a more definitive ID and a forecast of future activity.

CCRi Capabilities

DATA FUSION TRACKING