DATA InTEGRATION

The Intelligence Community (IC) faces major challenges in dealing with the explosion of data produced by a multitude of sources at an exceedingly fast rate. It is difficult for analysts to process and integrate the data to extract relevant information and project future activities. Intelligence data is often stored in different silos, each with its own interface and restrictions, causing massive data interoperability problems. IvySys solutions enable the collection, fusion, and filtering of data from heterogeneous sources to reduce ambiguities and improve signal-to-noise to a manageable level of complexity. Our approach efficiently integrates data from disparate, large-scale sources using a novel hybrid man-machine schema alignment and object disambiguation approach. This method enables cross-system advanced analytics and federated search capabilities. IvySys interoperability solutions leverage the following core competencies:

• Cross-platform interoperability

• Intelligence information sharing

• Multi-source data integration

• ISR/CBRN sensor interoperability and integration

• Hybrid human-machine entity disambiguation and schema alignment

Solution examples include:

Entity Alignment and Sharing Infrastructure (EASI) – A big data integration software application allows intelligence analysts to use the appropriate analytical platform for current investigations, while providing access to available data sets distributed throughout the intelligence enterprise. The solution enables robust information sharing with users of other intelligence analysis platforms both within and outside the intelligence enterprise, and complies with privacy and security requirements for safeguarding personal information and user authentication and access. EASI uses an ontology-based data access approach to extract and transform data objects into a common data model. This approach enables the automatic synchronization, disambiguation, and alignment of entities/objects across a variety of data repositories that underlie link-analysis tools, geo-spatial analysis tools, and security-enabled NoSQL key/value stores. The software includes a data transcoder and synchronizer to monitor objects in one analytic tool data store for changes and automatically updates or creates objects across the other COTS/GOTS data stores, while also providing the ability to feed a common data store.

NEOS – The Next-Generation Exploitation Optimization System™ – A plug-and-play software architecture designed to increase interoperability among disparate sensor systems and communication assets, while decreasing acquisition cost and development time. Based on the Open Standard for Unattended Sensors (OSUS), NEOS leverages standardized communications and data protocols that facilitate the integration of legacy and future sensor and communication systems. The solution uses plug-ins, which are OSGi bundles, to allow heterogeneous sensors (signals intelligence, electro-optical/infrared, full motion video, seismic/acoustic, chem-bio, etc.) and communications assets to be accessed and used by the system through a common set of interfaces. NEOS also provides vendor-agnostic command and control of connected sensors and communication assets from a common situational awareness display, while enabling automated onboard processing, exploitation, and dissemination of target data. Field test demonstrations by DoD customers have shown that NEOS enables sensor integration in minutes/hours as opposed to legacy approaches that require long integration schedules spanning months/years.