The client is a US Department of Defense analytic center that provides information, tools, and support to the US military, other Department of Defense (DoD) components, federal agencies, and international partners. i3solutions built the center an international security assessment and analytics prototype for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, as a custom application that turns Publicly Accessible Information into near real time analysis of the civil environment. It runs on over 20 machine learning models that i3solutions built and trained to gather and organize material from news articles, files, documents, and both public and private databases, with Natural Language Processing tools performing sentiment analysis, language translation, and frequency analysis to calculate the stability index of various countries. The stack pairs generative AI, Large Language Models, and Retrieval Augmented Generation with MongoDB and Neo4j for data storage and integration, plus Esri ArcGIS Knowledge, ArcGIS Pro, and ArcGIS StoryMaps for geospatial analysis, so analysts receive geospatial displays, timelines, network graphs, question and answer search, and “baseball cards” that combine multiple data sources in one view.
Strengthening Strategic Awareness and Analysis With Data Analytics & Data Fusion
Case Study
International Security Assessment
and Analytics Capabilities for a US
Department of Defense Analytic Center
The Customer
And Their Challenge
The client is a US Department of Defense (DoD) analytic center that provides information, tools, and support to the US military and other DoD components, as well as federal agencies and international partners. They play a crucial role in collecting, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence to support military operations, mission planning, and decision-making.
The center and other key decision-makers faced challenges in effectively integrating Publicly Accessible Information (PAl), Artificial Intelligence (Al) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) with cognitive technologies to analyze threats and regional security cooperation environments.
Their legacy technologies lacked the capability to efficiently ingest and interpret Publicly Accessible Information (PAI) as Big Data. Specifically, US Military planners and decision makers lacked a tool to evaluate the critical characteristics of adversarial activities using open- source Information. The ability to compile and analyze available information, thereby bolstering operational planning to counter such activities, was deemed indispensable for strategic planning.
The Solution
The ISR Prototype
In response to the pressing challenges faced by the center, i3solutions embarked on a transformative endeavor to develop an international security assessment and analytics prototype for Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance. This pioneering solution represents a paradigm shift in the center’s approach to intelligence analysis, offering a comprehensive framework to tackle the complexities of modern warfare and global security. The prototype provides near real time ISR to detect, observe, analyze, and assess the civil environment, which is key to bringing stability to partnered nations while also exploiting weaknesses in competitors and adversaries.
The prototype is a holistic system designed to address the multifaceted challenges confronting the center. At its core, the system aims to bridge the gap between the overwhelming volume of Publicly Accessible Information (PAI) and actionable intelligence. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), geospatial analysis, and statistical modeling, i3solutions crafted a solution that empowers the center to extract valuable insights from large amounts of disparate data.
Employing state-of-the-art data collection, feature extraction, and visualization solutions, i3solutions developed and trained over 20 machine learning models.
These models are designed to gather and organize information sourced from hundreds of thousands of news articles, files, documents, and both public and private databases. Various NLP tools then perform sentiment analysis, language translation and frequency analysis needed to calculate the stability index of various countries.
The system uses a diverse array of outputs to enhance decision support, encompassing geospatial displays, timelines, network graphs, question and answer search, and ‘baseball cards’. These ‘baseball cards’ integrate multiple data sources into a unified display, facilitating more comprehensive analysis and informed decision making.
The significance of the prototype extends beyond mere data processing; it represents a strategic advantage for the center in navigating the complexities of modern warfare. Real-time Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities facilitate rapid responses to emerging threats, enhancing situational awareness and operational effectiveness. Predictive analysis enabled by Artificial Intelligence (Al) enables the center to anticipate future scenarios, facilitating proactive strategy formulation and threat mitigation.
Technologies
Used in the Solution
Generative Al and Large Language Models (LLMs) aid in deciphering textual data from diverse sources. Generative Al simulates potential threat scenarios, providing the center with foresight into future challenges. LLM, on the other hand, delves into the depths of language nuances, extracting meaningful insights from the vast textual corpus. This deep contextual analysis, coupled with nachine learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP), empowers the center to uncover hidden patterns and trends within a vast amount of data.
Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) sifts through the vast expanse of PAl, retrieving relevant information and transforming it into coherent, analytical insights. This ensures that the system’s analysis remains anchored in the most pertinent data, facilitating informed decision-making for the center’s stakeholders.
MongoDB stores data in flexible, schema-less documents, allowing for easy storage and retrieval of complex data structures. Within the system, it serves as the central repository for the overall data catalogue and stores tabular data formats, including CSV files.
ArcGIS Knowledge integrates graph and spatial analytics to support data discovery, collaborative investigations, link analysis, and information sharing. By dissecting information and establishing intricate relationships between entities, ArcGIS Knowledge enables the center to extract complex relationships from seemingly disparate data sources. isolutions accomplished the first ever deployment of ArcGIS Knowledge within the Department of Defense (DoD), marking a significant milestone in leveraging GiS capabilities within the organization.
Machine Learning (ML) focuses on enabling systems to learn from data and make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed. Isolutions created and trained ML models to collect and collate information from hundreds of thousands of sources, enabling the extraction of valuable insights and patterns from vast datasets. NLP encompasses a variety of tasks, including text classification, sentiment analysis, machine translation, named entity recognition, and question answering to create country stability indexes for the center.
Neo4j is a highly scalable and native graph database management system, designed to store, retrieve, and manage graph-based data.
Combined with ArcGIS Knowledge, Neo4j empowers the center to unlock deeper insights from their spatial data by leveraging built in tools and libraries for data visualization and analytics.
ArcGIS StoryMaps is a web-based tool provided by Esri that allows users to create interactive, multimedia-rich narratives using maps, text, images, and multimedia content. The addition of StoryMaps allows the center to weave narratives through interactive visualizations, offering a comprehensive understanding of country-level stability indicators.
Esri ArcGIS Pro is a powerful geospatial analysis tool used to create dynamic maps and visualizations. These maps provide the center’s decision-makers with invaluable spatial insights into global scenarios, facilitating strategic planning with enhanced precision. ARCGIS Pro further empowers the center with advanced content creation capabilities, facilitating in-depth link chart analysis and relationship modeling.
Measurable Benefits
and Business Impact
Enhanced Strategic Awareness
By enhancing assessment capabilities, the system gives the center a clearer understanding of the dynamics, capabilities, and intentions of rival Great Powers, enabling better-informed strategic decisions. This heightened clarity allows the center to anticipate potential challenges, capitalize on emerging opportunities, and effectively shape its policies and responses in the dynamic arena of global geopolitics.
Advanced Analytic Capabilities
The system employs advanced analytical tools, including artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, to process and analyze complex data sets rapidly. These tools enable the center’s analysts to identify patterns, correlations, and emerging trends that might not be apparent through traditional methods.
Innovative Geospatial Analysis
i3solutions’ intervention at the center led to significant advancements in geospatial analysis, facilitated by the utilization of Esri’s sophisticated tools. This enables the center to visualize and comprehend complex data sets, providing a clearer understanding of spatial relationships and patterns. By laying the groundwork for informed decision-making, the center can strategically leverage geographical insights to optimize various aspects of their operations, from resource allocation to risk assessment.
Comprehensive Data Integration
The system aggregates and synthesizes vast amounts of data from various sources through the utilization of advanced LLM. This enables the center to transform vast amounts of raw textual data into actionable intelligence, extracting valuable insights and trends that were previously hidden. By enhancing data interpretation processes, the center can make more informed decisions and respond more effectively to evolving situations, ultimately improving operational efficiency and agility.
Real-time Monitoring
The system provides real-time monitoring of key developments and events related to Great Power Competition, enabling the center to react swiftly to emerging threats or opportunities. This proactive stance ensures that the center remains agile and adaptive in its decision-making process.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did i3solutions build for the analytic center?
A prototype system that ingests Publicly Accessible Information as Big Data and returns near real time Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance so the center can detect, observe, analyze, and assess the civil environment. Its outputs include geospatial displays, timelines, network graphs, question and answer search, and “baseball cards” that pull multiple data sources into a single display.
How does the system turn open source information into usable analysis?
Over 20 machine learning models, built and trained by i3solutions, gather and organize information from news articles, files, documents, and both public and private databases. Natural Language Processing tools then run sentiment analysis, language translation, and frequency analysis to calculate the stability index of various countries, and Retrieval Augmented Generation keeps the analysis anchored to the most pertinent source material.
Which technologies does the prototype use?
Machine learning and Natural Language Processing for modeling and text analysis; generative AI and Large Language Models for scenario simulation and contextual reading of large text corpora; Retrieval Augmented Generation for source retrieval; MongoDB as the central repository for the data catalogue and tabular formats such as CSV; Neo4j as the graph database; and Esri ArcGIS Knowledge, ArcGIS Pro, and ArcGIS StoryMaps for spatial analytics, link chart analysis, and interactive narratives.
Has i3solutions delivered this kind of work inside the Department of Defense?
Yes. The prototype was built for a US Department of Defense analytic center, and the engagement included the first ever deployment of ArcGIS Knowledge within the Department of Defense (DoD).
If your analysts are sitting on more open source information than they can read, the constraint is usually the collection and modeling layer rather than the analysts. A first conversation covers what your sources are, what questions you need answered from them, and which parts of that are a modeling problem versus a data integration problem. You leave with a written view of what a working prototype would have to do and the technology choices behind it, which is the part a review committee will ask you to defend. Start the conversation
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