At Praescient, we are always excited to highlight superlative analysis achieved through the use of powerful and innovative technology. That’s why we’re thrilled to be presenting at the upcoming Kapow Software User Summit in San Francisco. Kapow’s tools allow for the rapid, automated collection and integration of massive amounts of data from the web—which presents incredible analytic opportunities. At the summit, the team from Praescient will be showcasing the results of an investigation into the illicit activities of Iran’s principal international shipping organization, illustrated in the video below.
Tracking Iranian Shipping
[youtube id=”gvvbpoFLjsw” align=”center”]
Developed by Praescient and its partners at Kapow Software using the powerful Palantir analytic platform, the presentation will offer a compelling illustration of the potential to leverage large amounts of structured and unstructured open-source data to develop analytic solutions that are relevant not only in the national security community, but also for organizations involved in supply-chain management and international commercial shipping.
When the United States imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) in response to the organization’s involvement in international weapons trafficking, IRISL developed a complex and effective corporate shell structure for its ships to circumvent the sanctions and mask their continuing illicit activities. Using Palantir and data collected by Kapow, Praescient’s investigation identifies the key players in the Iranian corporate shell structure and tracks the Iranian Shipping fleet geospatially, revealing opportunities for more effective sanctions enforcement.
In a previous collaboration with Kapow, Praescient analysts highlighted the geospatial and temporal elements of the violent riots that rocked London in August 2011. Drawing upon extensive open-source data, the recorded demonstration available here illustrates how information gathered by Kapow from a range of online news sources and social media was quickly and easily integrated into Palantir to reveal a network of individuals linked to the London riots, as well as the detailed geographic breakdown of the various crimes that occurred in the course of the unrest.
With the help of a map overlay, Praescient’s analysts also examined the demographic and economic trends underlying of the riots, assessing the links between unemployment and violence across London neighborhoods. The result is a persuasive case study in the use of open-source data to enable real-time or predictive analysis on the part of law enforcement organizations and municipal governments seeking to engage communities and stem violence before it starts.
Stay tuned for additional updates here on Praescient’s collaboration with cutting-edge technology producers in the months ahead.