CHARLES RIVER ANALYTICS, INC. — Department of Defense STTR Phase I: The proliferation of social media technologies has provided a promising new source of info

Description

The proliferation of social media technologies has provided a promising new source of information for intelligence analysts. Effective use of this data could provide insight into the evolution of social networks, identification of communication patterns that lead to events of interest, and analysis of relevant socio-cultural factors and trends. However, intelligence analysts frequently have difficulty making predictions or drawing substantive analytical conclusions from social media data since they lack a solid theoretical framework in which to formulate their hypotheses. Furthermore, the richness, immediacy, and diversity found in social media data add to the challenge analysts face. To assist analysts in deriving actionable information from social media data, tools are needed that are grounded on a sound theoretical framework. The tool must employ these theories effectively to transform raw data into intelligence, and must be linked to operational decision makers"information needs and support the analyst in communicating their insights with respect to those needs. Charles River Analytics, in partnership with Boston College, proposes a Social Media Analysis and Reasoning Tool (SMART). SMART uses innovative theories on social media and real-world networks to guide cutting-edge semi-supervised machine learning algorithms that derive useful inferences from social media in support of operational decision-making.