Briefs

Posted by Ed Gottsman

Accenture Technology Labs rather generically-named Knowledge Discovery Capability (KDC) is actually a sophisticated data integration and visualization tool designed primarily for use in research and investigative fields (e.g., science, law enforcement, intelligence, disease management, capital markets, etc).

The KDC stems from a disturbing statistic: Globally, government intelligence analysts spend roughly 80 percent of their time gathering information (from numerous databases) and only 20 percent analyzing it. Further, they have little confidence that the information they find relates to the issues they're investigating. Another, more subtle problem is that current analytical tools answer questions... but they don't generally suggest new questions that might be worth asking. In other words, if you're barking up the wrong tree, today's tools won't tell you you're an idiot.

...

The KDC has a patented front-end that can be deployed on its own or as part of a portal or larger analysis workbench. One application is a prototype the Labs created to show the interplay between a map ("geo-visualization") and a visual network navigator (imagine connecting constellations and then following lines from star to star). The geo-visualization might be used to map disease outbreaks against food shipments against local cargo aircraft flight maps. Putting all of that information on a map simultaneously might answer important questions about the outbreak -- but, more than that, the sheer volume of visible data would probably suggest additional questions that might be worth asking.

Read more.