The article on The Standard today about IT failing in helping intelligence agencies with discovering relations between pieces of information and “connecting the dots” pretty much amazed me.
As we all (at least us information access professionals) know, the intelligence agencies in the US (and other countries) use search engine software intensively.
The homepage of Autonomy states clearly that the Department of Homeland security uses their Intelligent Data Operating Layer (IDOL). I think it’s safe to presume that the agencies not only use Autonomy software exclusively. Home grown solitions are of course combined with the best of the breed search engines and discovery tools.
Clearly the companies that are implementing the IT solutions have not done their work well or the major search vendors are promising more than they can live up to.
From experience I know that a top search engine can be made useless because of a bad implementation. On the other hand I must say that the vendors almost always paint an over simplifide picture when it comes to getting the most out of their software.
The field of search and information discovery is a daring one. One thing I hope is that the experiences and insights that are given on past events are being used to find the wholes and causes for not seeing connections in advance. That kind of knowledge can help everyone in building better solutions and information processes that feed the systems.
I know a company that can help intelligence agencies getting the most out of their search and discovery environment ;-)
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