GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY/Looking for answers
To help fight terrorism, break up drug cartels and identify illegal imports, local governments must maintain complex databases and monitor a wide range of information from the Web, surveillance and images. Consistently and carefully monitoring the multitude of sources for leads and infractions is challenging, especially for law enforcement agencies that are faced with budget cuts and limited resources.
Many local governments are learning that search technology can automatically monitor databases, interpret information and immediately alert agencies when infractions are identified. The technology can provide local governments with a single access point to information from disparate databases. Search technology also can aggregate data sources and quickly provide law enforcement agencies with a complete view of information about a specific person, business or situation. Officials then can spend more time arresting and prosecuting offenders rather than sifting through an endless stream of data.
Criminals do not limit themselves to specific boundaries when committing crimes. So why should local government agencies only have access to information about crimes that occur within their own jurisdiction? Search technology provides information contained in databases throughout other locales, which can result in more efficient operations and improved public safety practices.
Recognizing potential consumer privacy concerns, government organizations only are permitted access to information from shared government databases and public Web sites. Crime-fighting organizations cannot access personal data unless they have been given access to those sources of information.
Few government chief technology officers have fully exploited enterprise search technology for public safety. Organizations that have used the technology have discovered that it provides a new perspective to solving problems and brings results that allow them to make better decisions. For example, researchers at the National Science Center for Integrated Pest Management at North Carolina State University are using the technology to prevent online sales of killer weeds to United States residents. Additionally, the federal government uses the technology to better inform the public about its information through its Web portal (www.firstgov.gov), and Chicago also uses the technology for its portal (egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/home.do).
The amount of data collected, created and stored by local, state and federal governments — such as census information, state databases, market activity and intelligence reports — has never been larger, and it continues to grow at an exponential rate. Advanced and scalable search and real-time filtering technology can aggregate the data and provide qualified individuals with a complete view of information about a specific person, business or situation, helping local government officials make efficient, timely and informed decisions.
The author is chief operating officer for Needham, Mass.-based Fast Search & Transfer.
