Mirsad Capric - Group C

Article – The Shock of the Old

April 14, 2004

 

Counter-Terrorism Technology

 

            Could the attacks of September 11, 2001 have been stopped? This is one of the most frequently asked questions since the attack and is still relevant with the hearings of certain members of the government taking place recently. Government agencies believe that they have worked out a system that can prevent an event like this happening again. The type of technology now being implemented into government agencies such as the FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security is known as knowledge management. Knowledge management technology helps agencies “gather, organize, share, and analyze information”[1] which could possibly help agencies piece together certain information that they would never have seen before.

            The article goes on to show that this counter-terrorism technology can be used in various ways; however, the most powerful way is link analysis, which is “the ability to link two or more seemingly unrelated bits of information.”[2] The method works by labeling documents and other information so that it can identify what the document is about. This is then put into a database so its relationship with other cases can be made and linked to one another. This can help an analyst trying to find pertinent information relatively quickly; for example, finding the location of a bomb. To go about doing this an analyst must find the person who put the bomb out there. He can go about this by looking through the criminal’s contact information and speaking to his contacts. They would also look at his past experiences in the database and hopefully find related information that could narrow down where he could be.

            This new technology is a bit of culture shock to government agencies. Before the advent of this new system information was not shared unless otherwise noted; now it is to be shared unless otherwise noted. Also, agencies have to be careful about the information they put in this database. All the information must be relevant, validated, and tracked. The biggest change, however, is the sharing of information between agencies using knowledge management. Information must be made readily available between all agencies and the pathway of communication must remain clear; something which the FBI and CIA have had a problem with over the years.

 

 

Work Cited

Scwartz, Karen D. Countering Terrorism With Technology. Government Executive Magazine, 17 Oct. 2003. 13 Apr. 2004.

< http://www.govexec.com/features/1003/1003managetech.htm>