Open-Source Intelligence Gathering and Open-Analysis Intelligence for Biosecurity

Conservation Research, Policy and Practice

“…The project addressed the challenges of Computer-assisted scanning is increasingly used for automating the process of gathering a vast quantity of inputs, often crowd-sourced and usually from the internet (Palomino et al, 2012). Several such tools are now used in agriculture and health biosecurity to provide early detection of disease outbreaks (see Table 3.1 and Box 3.3 for examples) (Salathe ´et al, 2012;Kluberg et al, 2016;Grossel et al, 2017). Early online information, such as a tweet about a Tasmanian devil with a tumour on its face, or a YouTube video about a new device for targeting an invasive species, although unverified to begin with, may be critical for establishing the first in a series of signals that suggests a new or emerging threat (Grossel et al, 2017).…”

“…Several such tools are now used in agriculture and health biosecurity to provide early detection of disease outbreaks (see Table 3.1 and Box 3.3 for examples) (Salathe ´et al, 2012;Kluberg et al, 2016;Grossel et al, 2017). Early online information, such as a tweet about a Tasmanian devil with a tumour on its face, or a YouTube video about a new device for targeting an invasive species, although unverified to begin with, may be critical for establishing the first in a series of signals that suggests a new or emerging threat (Grossel et al, 2017). Information on the internet can be retrieved in a number of ways.…”

“…The International Biosecurity Intelligence System (IBIS) is a generic web-based application that focuses on animal, plant and marine health, and provides continuing surveillance of emerging pests and diseases, including environmental ones (Grossel et al, 2017). It also detects other environmental issues, such as harmful algal blooms.…”

“…Irrelevant items are discarded or moved to low priority. A second form of prioritisation involves flagging issues or topics that are particularly noteworthy (Grossel et al, 2017). This can be because signals have grown stronger (more evidence is gathered to suggest an issue is becoming a threat or presenting an opportunity for action) (Cook et al, 2014b), or it might be because the potential consequences are so severe that the issue warrants immediate attention, even when evidence is limited or the probability is low ('wild cards').…”

“…Box 3.3). When forecasting and open-analysis communities are already in place, this workflow can be delivered efficiently (Grossel et al, 2017).…”