Mastering Data Management

When agencies share information with entity resolution, the results are often sweet.

Implementations of entity resolution technology have been widely successful. One of the largest implementations to date is the FBI’s National Data Exchange (N-DEx) Program – a criminal justice information sharing system that will provide nationwide connectivity to disparate local, state, tribal, and federal systems for the exchange of information.

N-DEx will provide law enforcement agencies with a powerful new investigative tool to search, link, analyze, and share information (for example, incident and case reports) on a national basis to a degree never before possible. N-DEx will primarily benefit local law enforcement in their role as the first line of defense against crime and terrorism.

The FBI system leverages entity resolution to associate many different types of data across the hundreds of millions of records contributed by the participating agencies, and resolves this disparate data into entities. Once resolved, the relationships within and among the entities are then identified and acted on. This is initially done within the context of incident reports and investigations but also enables identification of potential relationships across these.

This type of information sharing is available to participating law enforcement agencies of all levels, from local to federal.

It is important to note that entity resolution technology works with the information already in place – information already gathered by local, state, and federal authorities. There are nearly 18,000 state and local jurisdictions in the United States. Each of these jurisdictions has evolved its information systems according to its own needs and concerns – data models and formats vary widely.

Entity resolution provides a means for participating agencies to retain the management and governance of their data while contributing to the benefit of all as a collective information sharing exchange.

Entity resolution enables contributing agencies to connect the dots between relationships in information, between systems, and between evidence within investigations. With this information, agencies can then identify terrorist and criminal activity that was previously undetectable, and act decisively to prevent or investigate incidents.

Local, state, and federal authorities already maintain a wealth of valuable information – particularly regarding national security and threats against it. The goal is to enable agencies to share information while protecting the privacy and security of that data; to help agencies “connect the dots” so they can effectively and efficiently identify and track down persons of interest.

The ultimate goal is to continue to ensure the safety of our citizens and country. Entity resolution is a fundamental piece of securing our safety.