Editing Information Awareness Office (section)

==Research==
IAO research was conducted along five major investigative paths: secure collaboration problem solving; structured discovery; link and group understanding; [[context awareness|context aware]] visualization; and decision making with corporate memory.

Among the IAO projects were:

===Human Identification at a Distance (HumanID)===
[[File:Human-id-at-a-distance.gif|thumb|right|300px|Diagram (from official IAO site) describing capabilities of the "Human Identification at a Distance (HumanID)" project<ref name="iaosite-humanid"/>]]

The '''Human Identification at a Distance''' ('''HumanID''') project developed automated [[biometric]] identification technologies to detect, recognize and identify humans at great distances for "force protection", crime prevention, and "homeland security/defense" purposes.<ref name="iaosite-humanid">{{cite web|url=http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/HID.htm |title=Human Identification at a distance |work=Information Awareness Office (official website -- mirror) |access-date=2009-03-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215094729/http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/HID.htm |archive-date=February 15, 2009 }}</ref>

Its goals included programs to:<ref name="iaosite-humanid"/>
* Develop algorithms for locating and acquiring subjects out to 150 meters (500&nbsp;ft) in range.
* Fuse face and [[gait]] recognition into a 24/7 human identification system.
* Develop and demonstrate a human identification system that operates out to 150 meters (500&nbsp;ft) using visible imagery.
* Develop a low power millimeter wave radar system for wide field of view detection and narrow field of view gait classification.
* Characterize gait performance from video for human identification at a distance.
* Develop a multi-spectral infrared and visible [[facial recognition system]].

===Evidence Extraction and Link Discovery===
'''Evidence Extraction and Link Discovery''' ('''EELD''') developed technologies and tools for automated discovery, extraction and linking of sparse evidence contained in large amounts of classified and unclassified data sources (such as phone call records from the [[NSA call database]], internet histories, or bank records).<ref name="iaosite-eeld">{{cite web|url=http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/EELD.htm|title=Evidence Extraction and Link Discovery|work=Information Awareness Office (official website -- mirror)|access-date=2009-03-15|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215094707/http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/EELD.htm|archive-date=2009-02-15}}</ref>

EELD was designed to design systems with the ability to extract data from multiple sources (e.g., text messages, social networking sites, financial records, and web pages). It was to develop the ability to detect patterns comprising multiple types of links between data items or people communicating (e.g., financial transactions, communications, travel, etc.).<ref name="iaosite-eeld"/>

It is designed to link items relating potential "terrorist" groups and scenarios, and to learn patterns of different groups or scenarios to identify new organizations and emerging threats.<ref name="iaosite-eeld"/>

=== Genisys ===
[[File:Genysis.gif|thumb|Goals of the Genysis project]]
'''Genisys''' aimed at developing technologies which would enable "ultra-large, all-source information repositories".<ref name="iaosite-genisys">{{cite web|url=http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/Genisys.htm|title=Genisys|work=Information Awareness Office (official website)|access-date=2009-03-15|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216080922/http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/Genisys.htm|archive-date=2009-02-16}}</ref>

Vast amounts of information were going to be collected and analyzed, and the available [[database]] technology at the time was insufficient for storing and organizing such enormous quantities of data. So they developed techniques for virtual data aggregation in order to support effective analysis across heterogeneous databases, as well as unstructured public data sources, such as the World Wide Web. "Effective analysis across heterogenous databases" means the ability to take things from databases which are designed to store different types of data—such as a database containing criminal records, a [[NSA call database|phone call database]] and a foreign intelligence database. The World Wide Web is considered an "unstructured public data source" because it is publicly accessible and contains many different types of data—such as blogs, emails, records of visits to web sites, etc.—all of which need to be analyzed and stored efficiently.<ref name="iaosite-genisys"/>

Another goal was to develop "a large, distributed system architecture for managing the huge volume of raw data input, analysis results, and feedback, that will result in a simpler, more flexible data store that performs well and allows us to retain important data indefinitely."<ref name="iaosite-genisys"/>

Genisys had an internal "Privacy Protection Program." It was intended to restrict analysts' access to irrelevant information on private U.S. citizens, enforce [[privacy law]]s and policies via software mechanisms, and report misuse of data.<ref name= lee>{{cite book| last = Lee| first = Newton| title = Counterterrorism and Cybersecurity: Total Information Awareness| publisher = Springer| edition = 2, illustrated, revised| date = 7 April 2015| pages = 141| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zSv3BwAAQBAJ| isbn = 9783319172446}}</ref>

===Scalable Social Network Analysis===
'''Scalable Social Network Analysis (SSNA)''' aimed at developing techniques based on [[social network analysis]] for modeling the key characteristics of terrorist groups and discriminating these groups from other types of societal groups.<ref name="ethier">{{cite web|url=http://spyapps.net/current-research-in-social-network-theory/ |title=Current Research in Social Network Theory |last=Ethier |first=Jason |work=Northeastern University College of Computer and Information Science |access-date=2009-03-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226213456/http://spyapps.net/current-research-in-social-network-theory/ |archive-date=February 26, 2015 }}</ref>

Sean McGahan, of [[Northeastern University]] said the following in his study of SSNA:

{{quote|The purpose of the SSNA algorithms program is to extend techniques of social network analysis to assist with distinguishing potential terrorist cells from legitimate groups of people ... In order to be successful SSNA will require information on the social interactions of the majority of people around the globe. Since the Defense Department cannot easily distinguish between peaceful citizens and terrorists, it will be necessary for them to gather data on innocent civilians as well as on potential terrorists.|Sean McGahan<ref name="ethier"/>}}

===Futures Markets Applied to Prediction (FutureMAP)===
{{main|Future Map}}
{{further|Policy Analysis Market}}

'''Futures Markets Applied to Prediction''' ('''FutureMAP''') was intended to harness [[collective intelligence]] by researching [[prediction market]] techniques for avoiding surprise and predicting future events. The intent was to explore the feasibility of market-based trading mechanisms  to predict political instability, threats to national security, and other major events in the near future.<ref>[http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/FutureMap.htm FutureMap<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060205010743/http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/FutureMap.htm |date=2006-02-05 }}</ref> In layman's terms, FutureMap would be a website that allowed people to bet on when a terrorist attack would occur.<ref name="money.cnn.com">[https://money.cnn.com/2003/07/29/news/terror_futures/?cnn=yes CNN]</ref> The [[bookmaker]] would have been the federal government.<ref name="money.cnn.com"/> Several Senators were outraged at the very notion of such a program.<ref name="money.cnn.com"/> Then [[Party leaders of the United States Senate|Senate Minority Leader]] [[Tom Daschle]] said on the floor of the Senate "I couldn't believe that we would actually commit $8 million to create a Web site that would encourage investors to bet on futures involving terrorist attacks and public assassinations. ... I can't believe that anybody would seriously propose that we trade in death. ... How long would it be before you saw traders investing in a way that would bring about the desired result?"<ref name="money.cnn.com"/> Democratic Senator from [[Oregon]], Ron Wyden said, "The idea of a federal betting parlor on atrocities and terrorism is ridiculous and it's grotesque."<ref name="money.cnn.com"/> The ranking Democrat on the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Armed Services Committee]], Sen. [[Carl Levin]] of Michigan, thought the program was so ridiculous that he thought initial reports of it were the result of a hoax.<ref name="money.cnn.com"/> The program was then dropped.

===TIDES===
[[File:TIDES.gif|thumb|Goals of the Translingual Information Detection, Extraction and Summarization (TIDES) project]]
'''Translingual Information Detection, Extraction and Summarization''' ('''TIDES''') developed advanced language processing technology to enable English speakers to find and interpret critical information in multiple languages without requiring knowledge of those languages.<ref name="iaosite-tides">{{cite web|url=http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/TIDES.htm|title=TIDES|work=Information Awareness Office (official website -- mirror)|access-date=2009-03-15|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215094744/http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/TIDES.htm|archive-date=2009-02-15}}</ref>

Outside groups (such as universities, corporations, etc.) were invited to participate in the annual [[information retrieval]], topic detection and tracking, automatic content extraction, and [[machine translation]] evaluations run by [[NIST]].<ref name="iaosite-tides"/>

===Genoa / Genoa II===
'''[[Project Genoa|Genoa]]''' and '''[[Project Genoa II|Genoa II]]''' focused on providing advanced decision-support and collaboration tools to rapidly deal with and adjust to dynamic crisis management and allow for inter-agency collaboration in real-time.<ref name="iaosite-genoa">{{cite web|url=http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/Genoa.htm|title=Genoa|work=Information Awareness Office (official website)|access-date=2009-03-15|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216081001/http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/Genoa.htm|archive-date=2009-02-16}}</ref><ref name="iaosite-genoa2">{{cite web|url=http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/GenoaII.htm|title=Genoa II|work=Information Awareness Office (official website)|access-date=2009-03-15|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215094724/http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/GenoaII.htm|archive-date=2009-02-15}}</ref> Another function was to be able to make estimates of possible future scenarios to assist intelligence officials in deciding what to do,<ref name="tia-funding-memo"/> in a manner similar to the DARPA's [[Deep Green]] program which is designed to assist Army commanders in making battlefield decisions.

===Wargaming the Asymmetric Environment (WAE)===
'''Wargaming the Asymmetric Environment''' ('''WAE''') focused on developing automated technology capable of identifying predictive indicators of terrorist activity or impending attacks by examining individual and group behavior in broad environmental context and examining the motivation of specific terrorists.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/WAE.htm| title = Wargaming the Asymmetric Environment (WAE)| website = www.darpa.mil/iao| publisher = Information Awareness Office| access-date = 16 June 2016| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120528103612/http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/WAE.htm| archive-date = 28 May 2012}}</ref>

===Effective Affordable Reusable Speech-to-text (EARS)===
[[File:EARS.gif|thumb|Graphic from the Information Awareness Office's website describing the goals of the Effective, Affordable, Reusable Speech-to-Text (EARS) project]]
'''Effective Affordable Reusable Speech-to-text''' ('''EARS''') developed automatic [[speech-to-text]] transcription technology whose output is substantially richer and much more accurate than previously possible. The aim of EARS was to focus on everyday human-to-human speech from broadcasts and telephone conversations in multiple languages.<ref name="iaosite-EARS">{{cite web|url=http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/EARS.htm|title=EARS|work=Information Awareness Office (official website -- mirror)|access-date=2009-03-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090507111338/http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/EARS.htm|archive-date=2009-05-07|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is expected to increase the speed with which speech can be processed by computers by 100 times or more.<ref name="tia-funding-memo">{{cite web|url=http://w2.eff.org/Privacy/TIA/belasco-memo.php|title=EFF: Memorandum Regarding TIA Funding|last=Belasco|first=Amy|date=January 21, 2003|work=Electronic Frontier Foundation|access-date=2009-03-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429075351/https://w2.eff.org/Privacy/TIA/belasco-memo.php/|archive-date=April 29, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The intent is to create a core enabling technology (technology that is used as a component for future technologies) suitable for a wide range of future surveillance applications.<ref name="iaosite-EARS"/>

===Babylon===
'''Babylon''' aimed to develop rapid, two-way, natural language speech translation interfaces and platforms. Its goal was to help the warfighter in field environments to complete tasks such as force protection, refugee processing, and medical [[triage]].<ref>[http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/Babylon.htm Babylon<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060715134535/http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/Babylon.htm |date=2006-07-15 }}</ref>

===Bio-Surveillance===
'''Bio-Surveillance''' aimed to develop the necessary information technologies and resulting prototype capable of detecting the covert release of a biological pathogen automatically, and significantly earlier than traditional approaches.<ref>[http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/BSS.htm BSS<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919113254/http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/BSS.htm |date=2006-09-19 }}</ref>

===Communicator===
[[File:Total Information Awareness -- Communicator diagram.gif|thumb|right|300px|Diagram (from official IAO site) describing capabilities of the "Communicator" project]]
'''Communicator''' was to develop "dialogue interaction" technology that enables warfighters to talk with computers, such that information will be accessible on the battlefield or in command centers without ever having to touch a keyboard.  The Communicator Platform was to be both wireless and mobile, and to be designed to function in a networked environment.<ref name="iaosite-communicator">{{cite web|url=http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/Communicator.htm|title=Communicator|work=Information Awareness Office (official website)|access-date=2009-03-15|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215094648/http://infowar.net/tia/www.darpa.mil/iao/Communicator.htm|archive-date=2009-02-15}}</ref>

The dialogue interaction software was to interpret the ''context'' of the dialogue in order to improve performance, and to be capable of automatically adapting to new topics (because situations quickly change in war) so conversation is natural and efficient. The Communicator program emphasized task knowledge to compensate for natural language effects and noisy environments. Unlike automated translation of [[natural language processing|natural language]] speech, which is much more complex due to an essentially unlimited vocabulary and grammar, the Communicator program is directed task specific issues so that there are constrained vocabularies (the system only needs to be able to understand language related to war). Research was also started to focus on foreign language computer interaction for use in supporting coalition operations.<ref name="iaosite-communicator"/>

Live exercises were conducted involving small unit logistics operations involving the [[United States Marines]] to test the technology in extreme environments.<ref name="iaosite-communicator"/>