The government is going to install 'i2 software system' and 'vispec 4 plus in documentation analysis centres' in all international airports of the country, sea ports and the land ports to stop cross border terrorism and smuggling.

The police headquarters has taken a pilot project named 'provision and installation of vispec 4 plus in documentation analysis centres at Zia International Airport in Dhaka and Benapole land port at Jessore and installation of i2 software system at the headquarters of Special Branch (SB) of police at a cost of Tk 1.16 crore. The police headquarters sent a project proposal to the home ministry for approval in October this year but the ministry is yet to give approval, sources said yesterday.

A high official of the home ministry yesterday told The Independent on condition of anonymity that they would approve the project after holding an inter-ministerial meeting to be held this week. The one-year project will start from this November and end in November next year. A group of trained staff of SB will operate these systems in the respective areas, according to the proposal. "The ministry is yet to allocated the total amount of money (Tk 1.16 crore) to implement the project. We are trying to arrange the fund through an inter-ministerial meeting," he said. "Counterterrorism, drug trafficking and smuggling have to be curbed if we will implement the project successfully," the official added.

He also said that i2 software provides a set of tools that enable investigators to capture and organise data from a wide variety of sources, discover the hidden connections in data sets and effectively communicate and share intelligence with cooperating agencies. For nearly 20 years, i2 products have proven instrumental in helping to solve cases of fraud, drug trafficking, counterterrorism, national security, corporate security and more. That is why more than 4,500 organisations in over 149 countries rely on i2 for investigative and intelligence analysis, the official explained.

Sources said that i2 software allows analysts to store, organise and access multi-source data without advanced technical expertise. Using i2, a database specifically designed for investigations and intelligence, analysts can quickly build and populate a database readily adapted for all types of data, allow security level access to team members and run comprehensive reports. After information is collected, analysts and investigators need the ability to find hidden connections and meaning within volumes of disparate data. Analyst's Notebook enables analysts to quickly understand large amounts of data, seemingly unrelated links and display complex information in intuitive visual charts, according to the sources. The charts generated with Analyst's Notebook have proven effective in quickly communicating complex scenarios in intelligence reports and briefings. Charts can be printed out or shared electronically, even with those without access to Analyst's Notebook, by using i2's free ChartReader.

-The Independent