OSINT stands for Open Source Intelligence

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Automated, Language-Independent Method for Summarizing Texts invented in Ben-Gurion University

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The novel technology, invented by Prof. Mark Last, Dr. Marina Litvak, and Dr. Menahem Friedman at the Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering of Ben-Gurion University, provides language-independent summaries of texts, based on a genetic algorithm that ranks document sentences, using statistical sentence features, which can be calculated for sentences in any language, and then extracts top–ranking sentences into a summary. The method, called MUSE – Multilingual Sentence Extractor, was tested on nine languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Russian, Chinese, German, French, and Spanish, and its summarization quality was evaluated on four languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic and Persian showing a high level of similarity to human-generated summaries. Experimental results show that after an initial training of the algorithms on an annotated corpus of summarized documents, where each document is accompanied by several human generated summaries, the software does not need to be retrained on a summarization corpus in each new language, and the same sentence-ranking model can be used across several languages.

“Extractive summarization, which selects a subset of the most relevant sentences from a source text, via ranking them by a relevance score and selecting the top-ranking sentences into a summary, is invaluable for being able to quickly summarize large quantities of text in a language-independent manner. This ability is crucial for search engines as well as other end-users, such as researchers, libraries and the media.”, says Prof. Mark Last.

With the huge increase of on-line textual data, the need arises for an automated method for extracting a summary from a text file, such as an article or an interview, for further processing. This, combined with ever shorter available time to evaluate the vast amount of published text, raise the need for an automated methodology for summary extraction from written texts. Most available solutions are language dependent and require training the algorithms on large volumes of text. Now BGN Technologies, the technology transfer company of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, introduces a novel, automated and language-independent tool for summarizing text. The method is applicable for extraction of articles, magazines and databases within the media itself and by users of such media including libraries, academic research engines and general search engines.

Zafrir Levy, Senior VP Business Development of BGN Technologies, said “This tool will be a valuable addition to our ability to benefit from the vast amounts of text available online. After filing a patent to protect the technology, we are currently looking for potential partners for further development and commercialization of this promising invention.”

SOURCE BGN Technologies
Technologies.org

Network Designs, Inc. (NDi) on Team Selected to Provide Open Source Intelligence Support to the U.S. Army

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Network Designs, Inc. (NDi) announced today that it is a key member of a team led by prime contractor BAE Systems, Inc. that was recently awarded a $437 million task order to provide open source intelligence (OSINT) support to the Army and Army Intelligence & Security Command (INSCOM) approved partners.

Under this task order, BAE Systems, supported by NDi and other teammates, will deliver open source intelligence capabilities derived from publicly available data to the Army. To support this activity, the combined team will provide INSCOM with training, policy and governance recommendations, assessments and implementation of emerging capabilities. The team will also establish and manage a secure cloud hosting environment for these activities.

NDi is part of team awarded a $437 million task order by the U.S. Army to provide open source support

“We’re thrilled to partner with BAE Systems to support the national security mission of the U.S. Army in the emerging open source intelligence arena,” said NDi President and CEO, Anthony Zeruto. “Never before has there been more open source information available, and our team’s solution will collect, synthesize, analyze and deliver actionable intelligence in a timely manner to support the U.S. Army in its efforts to combat emerging threats hidden within the ever-expanding volume of open source information.”

NDi’s President and CEO, Anthony Zeruto was recently named to BAE Systems Executive Advisory Council for this task order, which will assist the Army Open Source Intelligence Office to support the Army’s position for how it develops and implements policy, tools, tradecraft for Army-wide OSINT operations in this emerging area.

This mission-critical task order award continues NDi’s increasing momentum in the area of intelligence collection and analysis technologies, cybersecurity, cyber operations and secure infrastructure which began with Mr. Zeruto (Col, U.S. Army RET, former U.S. Army Cyber Command Director of Operations, NSA-Georgia Commander), being named President and CEO of the company that has supported the federal government for 23 years. Under Mr. Zeruto’s leadership, NDi opened its office at the Georgia Cyber Center to serve U.S. Army Cyber Command and NSA in Fort Gordon, GA.

About Network Designs, Inc. (NDi)
NDi is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) that specializes in designing, developing, and delivering resilient network and technology solutions for the modern enterprise. NDi’s services include cybersecurity, cyber infrastructure, cyberspace operations & resiliency; intelligence collection and analysis capabilities, IT infrastructure, cloud migration & operations center support; digital communications & strategic marketing; business intelligence & information management; enterprise & mobile application development; and program management. NDi enhances its customers’ resiliency with its expertise to design highly secure operational networks that include layered security with both physical and virtual segmentation. In business for more than 22 years, NDi is proud to deliver outstanding results for its global clients. In addition to its government work, NDi the commercial SaaS software service SkyRegs™, the single source for all government aviation regulations. For more information, visit www.netdes.com.

SOURCE Network Designs, Inc. (NDi)
http://www.netdes.com

New pattern recognition solution enables public safety agencies to solve more crimes

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Advanced data analytics have changed how public safety agencies leverage data to solve crimes. On the flip side, these agencies are overwhelmed with continuously growing mountains of data. While data-driven policing is on the rise, law enforcement officers have yet to realize the full benefits of situational awareness that helps them differentiate the signal from the noise.

A new solution is evolving the future of data-driven policing and improving how police work is done. “Since 1994, the widespread adoption of CompStat helped law enforcement leverage data analytics, and impact upto a 50% reduction in crime, per FBI data. However, case clearance rates remained stagnant at 45% for violent crime, and 17% for property crime, per Pew Research data. With pattern recognition and dissemination of officer level intelligence at the point-of-need, Elementz is the only solution we have seen that increases clearance rates,” said Dr. Chiranjeev Bordoloi, Managing Partner of I-Square Ventures.

Elementz is a SaaS solution that uses proprietary algorithms to continually search public safety agencies’ data and identify connected crimes. It then provides case officers with highly relevant information through text notifications. The cloud-based platform ingests CAD, RMS, citation, and other disparate data sources, and integrates any law enforcement agency’s data with that of neighboring and partner agencies for a true regional view.

“In years past, policing was very provincial, but now law enforcement is operating at a regional level. Elementz hits the mark by providing law enforcement agencies with the ability to incorporate data from surrounding communities, on top of its pattern recognition capabilities,” said Lieutenant Todd Ahern, Chelmsford, Massachusetts Police Department.

Intelligence gathering has always been at the core of good police work. RSG President Rufus Simmons took this complex mix of art and science to a sophisticated new level by combining his Engineering background and AWS Big Data Specialist certification to help public safety agencies eliminate key challenges associated with intelligence gathering.

“Elementz is exactly what we need for 21st century policing. It provides instantaneous relevant information from separate incidents in real-time and enhances the probability of solving crimes while improving officer awareness,” said Captain Michael Kilmartin, Lowell, Massachusetts Police Department.

SOURCE R Simmons Group
https://www.thersimmonsgroup.com/elementz

New Attenti GPS Device for Criminal Justice Agencies First to Include Wi-Fi Tracking and Communication

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Attenti, an established leader in the electronic monitoring industry, has released the Attenti One-Piece Tracking Device (AT1), the first in the industry to feature Wi-Fi tracking and communication to aid criminal justice agencies in their monitoring efforts.

Featuring Wi-Fi tracking as one of its three location technologies, the AT1 utilizes Wi-Fi access points to continue tracking in the absence of a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal. This makes the AT1 ideal for urban environments where gaps in GPS signals can occur — such as in underground transit systems, industrial parks, and large commercial buildings.

Additionally, the AT1 device’s ability to reliably communicate data via LTE or Wi-Fi network benefits criminal justice agencies serving rural or remote areas where cellular coverage is limited or nonexistent.

“Key insights from our customers, combined with Attenti’s long legacy of innovative technology, helped us develop a Wi-Fi enabled electronic monitoring device that tracks and communicates more reliably than any in our industry,” said Arnie Roese, Vice President and General Manager of Attenti North America. “The AT1 helps criminal justice agencies in their mission to improve offender compliance, promote rehabilitation, and keep communities safe and secure – even those with subways, large shopping malls and factories, limited cellular coverage, and other features that can make tracking and communication a challenge.”

The new AT1 device also includes an upgrade to the LTE network and other robust new features including the widest array of interference detection in the industry: cellular jamming, GPS jamming, device shielding, and motion detection.

The Attenti One-Piece Tracking Device is now available to agencies and companies in the United States and Canada. To request a demonstration, please call 866-213-0240 or email [email protected]

About Attenti
As one of the largest global electronic monitoring companies in the industry, Attenti tracks more than 70,000 offenders in over 30 countries for criminal justice agencies. With twenty-five years of engineering, manufacturing, and implementing electronic monitoring equipment and system solutions, Attenti pioneered the offender tracking industry by being the first company to integrate the multiple technologies of RF, GPS, and cellular communications into a comprehensive offender tracking solution. Attenti provides a full spectrum of electronic monitoring solutions tailored to each customer’s unique requirements.

NICE and RapidSOS Transform Investigations by Integrating Incident Intelligence and Emergency Data Clearinghouse Solutions

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NICE (Nasdaq: NICE) has successfully completed a technology integration of its NICE Inform incident intelligence solution with the RapidSOS Clearinghouse. The integration of the two solutions extends RapidSOS’ enhanced emergency information beyond real-time incident handling to transform incident reconstruction and investigations for 911 centers.

Integration extends RapidSOS’ enhanced emergency information beyond real-time incident handling to empower post-incident reconstruction

Used by thousands of public safety agencies nationwide for faster response and improved situational awareness, the RapidSOS Clearinghouse provides life-saving data from millions of connected devices directly to 911 and first responders in an emergency. The technology gives 911 centers access to a caller’s more accurate device location, saving precious time in an emergency.

As a result of a recently completed integration with NICE Inform, that same device location data is now also empowering 911 center managers with more precise, post incident reconstruction and incident intelligence tools.

“It’s a game changing solution for 911 centers,” said Chris Wooten, Executive Vice President, NICE. “Thousands of 911 centers nationwide are already using the RapidSOS Clearinghouse advanced location data for faster response and better situational awareness, but there are also opportunities to use that same data to improve incident reconstruction on the back end. The integration of RapidSOS and NICE solutions now make that possible.”

How It Works
The NICE Inform solution uses the ANI (automatic number identification) associated with each call to request the device location data from the RapidSOS Clearinghouse (for the device making the call). Once the device location data is captured in NICE Inform, it can be used in a variety of ways:

Visual Searching – Users can draw a box around an area on a map and immediately see all recorded calls that came in during a specific time period, along with the precise call locations.
Precise Incident Visualization and Playback – When selecting any call for playback, users can visualize the movement of the caller on a map, while synchronously listening to the call recording as it plays back.
Incident Intelligence – The enhanced location data also fuels the NICE Inform Intelligence Center dashboards. For example, managers can quickly pinpoint and visualize the precise location of calls related to any large-scale police, fire or EMS incident, and see what types of incidents are occurring where.
“The beauty of this solution is also in its future potential,” added Wooten. “As the Internet of life-saving things continues to increase and the data in the clearinghouse continues to grow, that data can be made available through NICE Inform, along with the incident recordings, for a complete picture of what happened during an incident and how it happened. This could include health and medical data, vehicle telematics and more.”

NICE will be demonstrating the integrated solution in booth #811 at the APCO 2019 Annual Conference & Expo which is taking place in Baltimore, Maryland, August 11 – 14, 2019.

About NICE Public Safety
NICE Public Safety solutions integrate and put into context information from many sources to help emergency communications centers and investigation departments reconstruct and understand the who, what, when, where and why of an incident. NICE Inform, the industry-leading digital evidence management (DEM) solution, gives emergency control rooms better insight into how to continuously improve their operations. NICE Investigate is the leading open, digital policing solution that automates and expedites the entire digital investigation process, helping to increase case clearance rates. Over 3,000 organizations worldwide rely on NICE public safety solutions.

About RapidSOS
Partnering with Internet of Things (IoT) companies and the public safety community, RapidSOS provides a rich data link to public safety via the RapidSOS Clearinghouse – sending life-saving data to aid in emergency response. RapidSOS implements best-in-class security practices including end-to-end encryption for data in the Clearinghouse and an information security management program developed with IBM that has achieved ISO 27001 compliance, a rigorous and globally-recognized cybersecurity certification. The RapidSOS Clearinghouse is a free service to public safety, and is integrated with all major vendors of 911 call-taking, dispatching and mapping software. Learn more about RapidSOS: www.rapidsos.com.

About NICE
NICE (Nasdaq: NICE) is the world’s leading provider of both cloud and on-premises enterprise software solutions that empower organizations to make smarter decisions based on advanced analytics of structured and unstructured data. NICE helps organizations of all sizes deliver better customer service, ensure compliance, combat fraud and safeguard citizens. Over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies, are using NICE solutions. www.nice.com.

Venture Capital Digest, August 2019

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GA-ASI’s I2C Makes Situational Awareness More Affordable Using Automation & UX-Based Design

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The new Integrated Intelligence Center (I2C) from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) presents innovative ways to improve the user experience for operators of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) using automation and user experience-based design (UX).

“I2C will rapidly transform data into actionable intelligence,” said David R. Alexander, president, GA-ASI. “We see benefits to the warfighter on many fronts, including the reduction of operational cost – whether it’s Ground Ops, Air Ops, or Intel Ops. By combining XC2, Automatic Takeoff and Landing, MMC and our single-seat Certifiable Ground Control Station, we will reduce manning by 50 percent.”

The System for Tactical Archival, Retrieval and Exploitation (STARE) is a component of GA-ASI's new Integrated Intelligence Center. STARE's Common Operation Picture shows the location of ISR assets, where they can look, and what they are currently looking at. STARE's automated Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination capabilities produces actionable intelligence faster with reduced manpower.
The System for Tactical Archival, Retrieval and Exploitation (STARE) is a component of GA-ASI’s new Integrated Intelligence Center. STARE’s Common Operation Picture shows the location of ISR assets, where they can look, and what they are currently looking at. STARE’s automated Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination capabilities produces actionable intelligence faster with reduced manpower.

GA-ASI’s modular and open software architecture designs promote horizontal integration of third party software and rapid integration of new capabilities, making the following developments the ideal set of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) tools for streamlined and improved collaboration:

eXpeditionary Command & Control (XC2): XC2 laptop leverages GA-ASI’s Advanced Cockpit development by porting select capabilities to a ruggedized laptop. A forward-deployed maintainer can use the laptop to employ automated pre-flight and post-flight checklists that reduce setup times by up to 50 percent, and reduces the airlift requirements by eliminating the need for a forward-deployed Ground Control Station (GCS).

Certifiable Ground Control Station (CGCS): The CGCS enables single-seat operations to reduce manpower requirements. Its tactical situation display unifies ISR and C4ISR data, as well as mission planning into a single Common Operating Picture (COP). The integrated Collins Pro Line Fusion® enables CGCS certifiability for operation in national airspace.

Multi-Mission Controller (MMC): The MMC enables a single user to safely control multiple aircraft and perform transit and routine ISR missions using a hand controller. When an aircraft is tasked with performing more dynamic ISR or a strike mission, MMC allows a rapid handoff of the aircraft to a dedicated GCS, where a mission crew can take control.

Metis – Automated intelligence Collection Management – Metis is a map-based interface that enables a pre-approved Metis user to request ISR products from the RPA, similar to ordering a car from Uber. Once the Metis user sends a task, it’s transmitted to MMC in real time. The MMC user selects the task and an integrated third party auto-router automatically generates a safe route to the requested target.

STARE Imagery: The System for Tactical Archival, Retrieval, and Exploitation’s (STARE) Common Operation Picture shows aircraft locations, where the operator can look and what they are looking at. The Multi-INT exploitation tool ingests, archives, disseminates and makes ISR data discoverable for imagery analysts to utilize. STARE reduces data exploitation tasks from hours to minutes.

Automation of Intel Ops: I2C integrates third party capabilities and software services to make Intel analysts more effective. Automated Activity Alerts – based on Multi-INT data correlation – reduces the need for eyes-on RPA sensor data to pick out significant activity. GA-ASI is partnering with best-of-breed companies specializing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning with proven AI-based systems deployed across multiple commercial sectors. GA-ASI works with these businesses to train their AI capability with MQ-9, MQ-1C and Predator ISR data.
These tools and capabilities are either operationally deployed, undergoing customer operational assessment or are actively flying aircraft.

Hi-resolution images of the Integrated Intelligence Center are available to qualified media outlets from the listed GA-ASI media contact. For all Paris Air Show announcements from GA-ASI, go to www.ga-asi.com/paris-2019.

About GA-ASI
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is the leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator® RPA series and the Lynx® Multi-mode Radar. With more than five million flight hours, GA-ASI provides long-endurance, mission-capable aircraft with integrated sensor and data link systems required to deliver persistent flight that enables situational awareness and rapid strike. The company also produces a variety of ground control stations and sensor control/image analysis software, offers pilot training and support services, and develops meta-material antennas. For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com.

UberMedia Announces Beta Launch for Vista AI, a Fully Anonymized Mobile Location Intelligence Platform, to Deliver Consumer-Conscious Insights

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UberMedia, the leading provider of aggregated mobile location data and intelligence, today announced the beta launch of Vista AI, a fully anonymized mobile location intelligence platform that delivers actionable insights to businesses without compromising accuracy or quality. The beta launch of Vista AI coincides with the release of Mobile Location Data University (MLDU), an UberMedia-sponsored online resource center dedicated to educating businesses and consumers on the complexities, uses, and analytic potential of mobile location data. Vista AI is expected to officially launch later this year.

Vista AI builds on UberMedia’s consumer-conscious approach to mobile location data and allows users to better understand consumer behavior and market trends, as well as to assist in site selection and trade area modeling. Backed by UberMedia’s best-in-class accuracy, quality and scale, Vista AI provides businesses with access to tailored, market-level insights regarding their consumers and competitors, while successfully navigating the complexities associated with individual device data.

Vista AI’s simple online interface allows users to easily construct highly customized location queries to find solutions to their business challenges. Using Vista AI’s powerful technology, UberMedia is then able to analyze quickly and return fully anonymized data sets from its vast network of mobile location data suppliers, delivered in a variety of formats, including insight datasets, interactive reports, or even an API.

“We believe mobile location data is best used to analyze trends and aggregate consumer behavior,” said Gladys Kong, CEO of UberMedia. “With the California Consumer Privacy Act coming into effect in 2020, our goal is not only to comply with consumer privacy legislation, but also to give customers the peace of mind that they can still use our platform to answer their business questions with fully anonymized and aggregated insights.”

Additionally, Vista AI offers users access to ‘Market Potential,’ a powerful new feature that captures insights with anonymized and aggregated human movement data from massively pre-processed data. With more accurate modeling and easy-to-use formatting, ‘Market Potential’ helps users identify hidden opportunities by better understanding:

Retail Potential: Information related to the retail potential of residents and workers within the geography;
Dispersion: Pre-processed movement data that identifies patterns of movement into and out of a specific geography;
Pulse Daypart: Count and device density within a geography by hour of day and day of week;
Pulse Trend: Ranking of geographies based on growth in mobile activity over time.
Vista AI expands UberMedia’s leadership in using location intelligence to enhance business strategy for diverse industries, including commercial real estate, retail and tourism.

In addition to announcing the beta launch for Vista AI, UberMedia also announced the launch of Mobile Location Data University (MLDU), the industry’s first online resource center dedicated to educating businesses and consumers on the complexities, uses, and analytic potential of mobile location data. MLDU is sponsored by UberMedia and TSCG Analytics, and includes partners such as Environics Analytics, Miren.co, BI Spatial, and X-Mode.

As an independent, online resource, MLDU will feature educational content contributed by industry leaders, changemakers, and thought leaders to better educate consumers and support professionals working with mobile location data. Through easily accessible lessons in the form of articles, videos, and downloadable documents, MLDU makes learning mobile location data and understanding its potential as simple as possible.

“As the location intelligence market has expanded, the level of noise, misinformation, and misleading marketing claims have grown in parallel to the business opportunities. We heard loud and clear from our customers that there is a pressing need for independent expertise dedicated to providing clarity in this crowded marketplace,” said Gregg Katz, Chief Strategy Officer at TSCG Analytics. He added, “We’re excited that UberMedia also recognized this need and co-sponsored this valuable resource with us. ”

At its release, MLDU includes non-technical educational content that assists analysts, marketers and business managers at various stages of working with mobile location data. From a basic glossary to advanced concepts on trade area modeling, MLDU defines mobile location data, details how to use it, and recommends ways to work with vendors through informative articles explaining what questions to ask mobile location data vendors and how to evaluate their responses.

“From our interactions with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in the media and marketing industry, we realized that an equivalent need existed in the mobile location data market,” said Kerry Pearce, Chief Product Officer and SVP Engineering at UberMedia. “We take pride in launching MLDU and look forward to continuing to work with our partners and competitors to further the development of an ethical and responsible industry resource.”

For more information on Mobile Location Data University and to view currently published resources, please visit: https://www.mldu.org. To learn more about potential MLDU partnerships and opportunities to contribute content, please contact [email protected]

Retailers are invited to visit UberMedia during RECon 2019 in Las Vegas this week (Booth N1318) to learn more about Vista AI, UberMedia’s complete location intelligence offering, and MLDU.

Source: UberMedia
http://www.ubermedia.com.

Data USA’s 3.0 includes additional data sets, now capable of generating more than 2.5 million data visualizations

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Today Deloitte, MIT and Datawheel released the third major update to Data USA, a data visualization platform with more than 400,000 monthly visits. This third update includes a “Viz Builder” tool, which allows users to build custom data visualizations using data from over a dozen U.S. public sources.

Deloitte, MIT and Datawheel Launch New ‘Viz Builder’ in Data USA 3.0, Enabling Users to Create Millions of New Visualizations

Along with this new feature, Data USA releases an improved, open source and scalable design.

Data USA is a free and open, publicly available platform that has become one of the main sources for Americans to access public data. The comprehensive visualization engine integrates, visualizes and distributes publicly available data pulled from multiple public sources, such as the U.S. Department of Education, Census Bureau, Department of Labor, and Department of Health and Human Services.

“The US government produces tons of valuable data every year; however, there are not many tools to make sense of it, fuse it, sift through it, and visualize it, making it inaccessible to all but the most skilled data scientists,” said Matt Gentile, principal, Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP and one of the creators of Data USA. “We’re working to close that gap and make that data useful, relevant, and understandable, to those in the public sector, private sector, and the general population. This release will put relatable statistical evidence about the economy, the workforce, public health and education in the hands of everyone to drive basic decisions, such as what the best parts of the country to find a job as a nurse.”

“We’re very excited to unveil the newest installment of Data USA, along with all the new features that come with it,” said Cesar Hidalgo, MIT Media Lab faculty and co-founder of Datawheel. “With this new update, Data USA continues to prove itself to be a flagship project showing what is next in this new wave of open data sites.”

Data USA 3.0 includes more data sets, but also updated features that enable users to more easily visualize public data. Features like the data cart and visualization builder allow users to dig deeper into the data than ever before. For example, users can now visualize the number of people working in an industry that belong to a specific demographic, such as an ethnic group and gender as shown here. This level of depth was not possible in previous versions of Data USA.

The new visualization builder feature allows users to see data differently, creating a consolidated view of useful data on a wide range of topics, such as:

Drug overdose and death rates by county
Customer profiles across geographic regions
Black females working in the software industry by state
Admissions for universities in the Boston-metro area
Deloitte, MIT and Datawheel launched Data USA in April 2016 and have continued to add more data, modify and evolve the platform. In its first year, Data USA delivered more than 2.5 million sessions, with the majority of visitors coming from organic search.

About Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world’s most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500 and more than 5,000 private and middle market companies. Our people work across the industry sectors that drive and shape today’s marketplace to make an impact that matters — delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthy society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them.

About Datawheel
Datawheel is an award winning software company that provides end-to-end digital transformation solutions capable of integrating, distributing, and visualizing multiple streams of data. With multiple clients in the U.S., Chile, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Estonia, among others, Datawheel has become a leader in the development of digital transformation solutions for the public sector.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the “Deloitte” name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.

SOURCE Deloitte
http://www.deloitte.com/us

Investigations, Monitoring & Testing and Training Top List Across Most Industries, Heightened Awareness of Behavior Has Elevated Ethics and Compliance

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KPMG 2019 CCO Survey Identifies Ethics and Compliance Areas for Enhancement

A new report by KPMG LLP shows a consensus across industries that enterprises plan to strengthen their ability to detect and prevent ethical misconduct by enhancing key compliance areas of investigations, monitoring and testing, due diligence and governance. This comes in light of recent technology advances and expanding digitization that have accelerated an increasing convergence of business models and markets across disparate industries – and which have focused awareness on high-profile events such as data breaches, questionable sales practices and organizational misconduct.

KPMG 2019 CCO Survey: Insights on Ethics & Compliance
KPMG 2019 CCO Survey: Insights on Ethics & Compliance

The report, “KPMG’s 2019 CCO Survey: Insights for the future of ethics & compliance,” points out that most organizations, independent of industry, are taking ethics and compliance risks seriously. Based on a survey of 220 chief ethics and chief compliance officers (CCOs) representing the largest organizations in various industries, the report identifies mature ethics and compliance areas and offers guidance for improvement where necessary. To download the full report, go to: https://advisory.kpmg.us/content/dam/advisory/en/pdfs/2019/2019-cco-survey.pdf

“There is a growing consensus across all industries regarding the key areas organizations need to focus on and enhance, not only in ethics and investigations but also on the maturity of ethics and compliance programs,” said Amy Matsuo, KPMG principal and Regulatory Insights national leader. “This is likely driven not only by a commonality of risks but also converging business models.”

The report identifies the top five areas where CCOs plan enhancements to their enterprise-wide ethics and compliance activities: investigations (65 percent), monitoring and testing (65%), data analytics (32%), regulatory change management (32%) and reporting and data visualization (32%).

The report found that Board of Director engagement in ethics and compliance oversight and supervision is strong, and that business line accountability for ethics and compliance is well-established. However, it also said the ethics function continues to need to work on achieving a “trusted advisor” relationship with the business front lines.

KPMG’s report provides insights and suggestions that organizations can implement for more integrated and effective investigations programs in the areas of people and skills, process and data analytics, and technology, including:

Revamping investigations processes, case management, reporting and communication
Embedding accountability via ethics- and compliance-driven employee metrics
Continuing to drive integrated governance and reporting across Ethics & Compliance, Legal and Human Resources departments
Evaluating available data and the integrity of that data for use in predictive analytics enterprise-wide
Establishing guardrails and new risk processes for evolving business digitization, data analytics, and automation
Investing in technology and/or tools to drive greater data access, quality and automation to compliance monitoring, testing and enhanced data analytics
Continuing enhancements to scans and the inventory of regulatory changes and dynamically link to associated operational controls
Elevating and/or redesigning ethics and compliance to integrate with business operations
“Increased public awareness and regulatory focus – along with market pressures for greater agility and real-time responsiveness to identify misconduct – are driving organizations to improve their investigations function,” Matsuo said. “Integrating investigation activities more closely with ethics and compliance risk management by enhancing investigation reporting and investing in new technology, such as AI, can help to consistently identify and analyze root causes and trends and improve the production of investigation resolutions.”

About the Survey
The KPMG CCO survey was completed in January 2019. The survey asked chief ethics and chief compliance officers for their views on key areas of ethics and compliance focus and integration, as well as key program maturation areas relative to KPMG’s proprietary Compliance Program framework. Participants operate in the following industries: consumer markets; energy and natural resources; financial services, including banking, capital markets and insurance; healthcare and life sciences; industrial manufacturing; and technology, media and telecommunications.

About KPMG LLP
KPMG LLP is the independent U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative (KPMG International). KPMG International’s independent member firms have 207,000 professionals working in 153 countries and territories. Learn more at www.kpmg.com/us.