MOD Wants To Mine Deep Web Via Hackathon Event

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is hosting a hackathon late September for an enhanced Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) capability.

The event is being held with Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN).

According to the MOD, the hackathon is a “unique opportunity” to collaborate with software developers, scientists and innovators to develop ideas for mining of the deep web.

Those involved are expected to use a range of open source tools and services to build something that has the potential to support the national security of the UK.

The event, dubbed MODHack, is one part of the wider Catalysing Defence Innovation through Science and Technology (CDIST) project, which sees the Ministry explore new approaches for innovation and mechanisms for engaging with non-traditional Defence suppliers.

The Department claims there is a large volume of non-classified and publically available information that it could use to ensure the security of the UK.

It says that there is currently a centralised, one-size-fits-all approach that searches the Internet with the same set of tools for all queries, but while this is a successful model commercially, it does not work well for many government cases.

The MOD has created MODHack as a means of inventing better methods for interacting with and sharing information to allow users to quickly and thoroughly organise and search subsets of information relevant to their individual interests.

It claims the creation of a new domain-specific indexing and searching paradigm will provide mechanisms for improve content discovery, information extracts, information retrieval, users collaboration and extension of current search capabilities to the deep web and no-traditional, such as multimedia, content.

Awards Available

At the hackathon, Proofs of Concept will be developed and judged with awards for various categories and an exclusive prize for the team that develops the overall winning project.

Those holding this title will receive a day out with the Royal Navy Underwater Escape Training Unit at Yeovilton.

Interested parties can visit EventBrite to register their interest.

© 24N.biz