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What's New?
 Visual Analytics presented at the Tulane Engineering Forum on December 9th, 2004.
The event was sponsored by the Tulane University School of Engineering and the Forum provided engineering professionals the opportunity to learn
from academic and industry professionals on the general topic of "Advanced Technologies for Homeland Security." Visual Analytics presented a track
in the Image and Cyber Technology session entitled "Technologies for Money Laundering Analyses: New Approaches for Combating Financial Crimes."
For more information about this event, please visit the Tulane Engineering Forum 2004 site.
Visual Analytics' Data Clarity Suite was recently added to the PHP Solutions magazine, which reaches audiences in five languages.
The Data Clarity Suite is the PHP Solutions featured data mining tool. Visit the
PHP Solutions site for details on the magazine.
Visual Analytics and DIG continue to expand the capabilities of intelligence, law enforcement, and investigative communities throughout the world. Over this past month, VAI's technologies have been selected to support the FBI and a cadre of DoD programs involved with fighting terrorism. Additionally, VAI's presence within Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) remains strong with the award of several new contracts throughout the world, more to follow on each of these in upcoming newsletters.
VAI has decided to change the delivery frequency of the LinkLetter. Over the past 2 years, this newsletter has been published around the 15th of each month. In fact, reviewing the archives brings back some fond memories and shows how far we have come in such a short while. Starting next month, the LinkLetter will be published quarterly with issues being delivered in January, April, July, and October. There may be a special issue or two produced throughout the year - especially around new software version releases. We look forward to continuing to serve the analytical community through the LinkLetter.
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continued from the cover
These fusion centers are where the law enforcement community can have data mining and analysis performed on their databases by trained, experienced analysts, with actionable analytical results sent back to the appropriate department for inclusion into current or on-going investigations.
The combination of data sharing, data collaboration, the use of outside data sources and analytical excellence offered by these fusion centers give the state and local law enforcement community the ability to find the missing pieces of the investigative puzzle much more quickly and efficiently. There are a number of national-, state-, and local-level programs that have been established to help foster inter-agency cooperation. A few examples of these programs include the following:
- The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program - The HIDTA Program consists of 28 nationally distributed entities focused on enhancing and coordinating drug control efforts among local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. The program provides agencies with coordination, equipment, technology and additional resources to combat drug trafficking and its harmful consequences in critical regions of the United States.
- Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) - The RISS Program is based on the coordinated efforts of 6 federal centers that are focused on providing support, equipment, and analytical resources to combat terrorism, drug trafficking, gangs, and other criminal activities. The RISS centers provide technical assistance, training, investigative equipment, and a wide range of other criminal intelligence products.
- State Level Fusion Centers are designed to facilitate information sharing, intelligence production, and support for federal, state, and local authorities. These centers provide analytical support and strategic analysis in support of law enforcement, public health, public safety, and homeland defense. Many are heavily focused on terrorism-related events.
At the time of this writing, there were 27 known state-level fusion centers identified. Below are just a few of the states with active fusion programs:
In the post-9/11 necessity of inter-agency cooperation, police departments, sheriff's offices, task forces, special units, and many others involved in law enforcement will be able to utilize these centers by providing access to their own data sources and by benefiting from the analyses made on collaborating agency data. Using this approach, the centers can analyze each source of data, respond to inquiries made from within the community, and cross reference other sources with appropriate approvals (including public records). The community, in return, gets a cost-effective, unbiased, reliable, and timely analysis of their data sets. When conditions exist that involve more than one agency, all involved parties can be notified and the appropriate approvals for data sharing obtained.
Additionally, and perhaps the more important by-product of these fusion centers, is their ability to integrate multiple sources of data. In many traditional settings the ability to share data with others (groups, divisions, or organizations/agencies) has been limited. Typically, there is little expertise in-house to adequately utilize multiple sources of data. These centers act as unbiased third-parties that only disclose matches found across data sources of different owners if there are established agreements between all the parties involved. Furthermore, these centers maintain sets of data sources covering state and national interests such as real property assets, sexual predators, the social security death-master index, plus a suite of other public sources that are shared with all participating agencies. This defers the costs and provides better quality results. These centers act as the primary interface and technical coordinator of many sources of data, subscription services, and other critical resources.
Collaborative data sharing among different agencies is an idea whose time has come and represents a win-win situation for all involved. The Maryland Advanced Analysis
Center for Crime and Homeland Defense briefing shows some additional information and consideration of the architecture of a fusion center (focused on the State of Maryland) designed to support a wide range of information sharing and analytics.
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GOVCON, January 10-12, 2005 in Anaheim, CA
VAI will be exhibiting at the upcoming Government Convention on Emerging Technologies. This year's theme - Enabling the National Security Community - will provide VAI with an opportunity to demonstrate how our technologies - VisuaLinks and DIG (the Data Clarity Suite) - can be used to further the cause of national security through information sharing and proactive analysis. Please visit GOVCON05...Enabling the National Security Community for additional information.
INTELCON, February 8-10, 2005 in Arlington, VA
VAI will be participating in the National Intelligence Conference and Exposition. INTELCON provides a forum for representatives from Congress and the intelligence community to discuss the issues facing intelligence professionals today. VAI will be demonstrating its latest advances in information sharing and analysis technologies to enable actionable intelligence. For complete details, please visit the INTELCON National Intelligence Conference and Exposition site.
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VAI is currently seeking individuals with active TS/SCI (Top Secret) clearances. We are looking for individuals who can provide training, consulting and other interactive support across our government client base. Join one of the most dynamic and exciting companies in the area. Submit your resume today.
For a list of currently available positions, please visit the Employment Opportunities page on the Visual Analytics web site.
All interested candiates should submit a resume to: info@visualanalytics.com.
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