Department of Defense Funds $450K Blog Research Project

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research will fund a three-year research project shepherded by Versatile Information Systems Inc. that will seek out “relevant and credible” information pertaining to terrorist activity on blogs. (via boingboing.net)

Defenselink Press Release:

ARLINGTON, Va., June 29, 2006 - The Air Force Office of Scientific Research recently began funding a new research area that includes a study of blogs. Blog research may provide information analysts and warfighters with invaluable help in fighting the war on terrorism.

Dr. Brian E. Ulicny, senior scientist, and Dr. Mieczyslaw M. Kokar, president, Versatile Information Systems Inc., Framingham, Mass., will receive approximately $450,000 in funding for the 3-year project entitled “Automated Ontologically-Based Link Analysis of International Web Logs for the Timely Discovery of Relevant and Credible Information.”

“It can be challenging for information analysts to tell what’s important in blogs unless you analyze patterns,” Ulicny said.

Patterns include the content of the blogs as well as what hyperlinks are contained within the blog.

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