News story

Timeline visualisation for provenance-based big data sensemaking

Case study from the MASS Consultants Ltd who pitched their ideas to industry and investors at the CDE Marketplace on 6 September 2016.

MASS

MASS Consultants Ltd has successfully demonstrated user interface innovations that can be used to visualise the degree of trust in big data.

It was funded by the Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) to design a dynamic, interactive information intelligence reporting model that can be readily incorporated into existing operational decision making processes, workflows and systems. These innovations can be exploited widely in defence, security, policing, emergency services and other applications.

In the future MASS Consultants will be integrating the visualisations with innovative constraints-based provenance metadata processing. The aim is to achieve better sense-making in the presence of ambiguous data and allow the user to apply their own domain knowledge, experience and other intelligence sources.

The innovation could show operational decision makers when they need to task further intelligence gathering to achieve a sufficient level of trust to meet operational needs, intelligence policies and comply with rules of engagement. It’ll then support applying fresh intelligence from other sources.

Making intelligence applications trust-aware is a user interface concept that’s applicable to all organisations and agencies that need to process large quantities of intelligence data from diverse sources.

Dr Adrian Wagstaff, Research and Technology Manager, MASS Consultants Ltd says:

CDE funding has allowed us to concentrate our applied research activities on a specific challenge. This has led to valuable user interface concepts that will lead to benefits across our customer base. CDE support has ensured that our technology is relevant and gives us a clear route to market.

Founded in 1983, MASS Consultants Ltd is part of Cohort PLC with offices in Cambridgeshire and Lincoln. It has 260 employees.

View the pitch presentation slides.

About CDE

CDE funds novel, high-risk, high-potential-benefit research. We work with the broadest possible range of science and technology providers, including academia and small companies, to develop cost-effective capabilities for UK armed forces and national security.

CDE is part of Dstl.

Centre for Defence Enterprise

Building R103
Fermi Avenue
Harwell Oxford
Oxfordshire
OX11 0QX

Email cde@dstl.gov.uk

Telephone +44 (0)30 67704236

Alternative number +44 (0)30 67704237

Please email for the quickest response.

Published 15 August 2016