System and method for detecting, collecting, analyzing, and communicating event-related information

• US 20090216747A1
• Filed: 08/28/2008
• Published: 08/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Georgetown University
• Original Assignee: Georgetown University
• Inventors: Li, Peter Chao-Yuan, Yoon, Jae in, Wilson, James M., Blake, Jane W., Polyak, Mark G., Collmann, Jeffrey R.
• Granted Patent: US 9,489,495 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/80 for detecting, monitoring or modelling epidemics or pandemics, e.g. flu
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

A system and method involves detecting operational social disruptive events on a global scale, assigning disease event staging and warnings to express data in more simplistic terms, modeling data in conjunction with linguistics analysis to establish responsive actions, generating visualization and modeling capabilities for communicating information, and modeling disease propagation for containment and forecasting purposes.

Claims

1. A method for detecting events, comprising the steps of:

storing at a first server at least one parameter for each of a plurality of indications and warnings associated with a socially disruptive event;

identifying at least one information source at a second server comprising downloadable data;

downloading the data at the end of a pre-determined time period;

filtering the downloaded data at the first server to identify a subset of the data comprising the at least one parameter;

receiving a scale value assigned to the subset of the data indicating a degree of the event; and

storing an event report comprising the scale value.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter is one of a word, a number, and a phrase.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

selecting the socially disruptive event;

identifying the plurality of indications and warnings; and

identifying the at least one parameter for each of the plurality of indications and warnings.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of downloading the data comprises the steps of:

downloading the data from the at least one information source;

encoding the data; and

storing the encoded data in a first database.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising the step of indexing the encoded data.

6. The method according to claim 4, further comprising storing a URL associated with the at least one information source in a second database.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of translating the data or the encoded data from a first language into a second language.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

executing a model using the downloaded data or the subset of the data; and

providing a ranked list comprising a URL associated with the at least one information source.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of outputting a signal comprising a link to the ranked list.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the scale value comprises an indicia.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the indicia is a word, a phrase, or a color indicia.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the scale value is selected from the Wilson-Collmann scale.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the scale value is selected from one of an Advisory, a Watch, and a Warning.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of selecting at least one containment measure from a stored list of containment measures.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of storing the event report comprises the steps of:

launching a template;

selecting metadata from a stored list of possible metadata;

if an event report exists, updating the existing event report using some of the subset of the data and the metadata; and

if an event report does not exist, storing a first summary of the event using some of the subset of the data and the metadata in an event report file.

16. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of reviewing an event report.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the step of reviewing an event report comprises the steps of:

setting a status field value field to a first status value associated with the event report;

launching a template to display the first status value and the event report;

identifying a signal associated with the activation of at least one link in the template; and

updating the status field value field to a second status value for the event report.

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of filtering comprises the steps of:

receiving at the first server at least one keyword;

comparing the at least one keyword to the at least one parameter; and

outputting a list comprising the subset of the data.

19. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

storing a filter event schedule having at least one time event indexed to a pre-determined time of day; and

executing the time event at the pre-determined time of day.

20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the event is caused by a communicable disease.

21. The method according to claim 1, wherein the event is caused by a transaction between a first party and a second party.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the transaction is the exchange of a good or service.

23. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of crawling the at least one information source to identify the downloadable data.

24. A method for filtering open source documents to detect events, comprising the steps of:

selecting an event type;

selecting a surveillance location;

selecting information sources having data about the event type;

storing at a first server at least one parameter for each of a plurality of indications and warnings associated with the event type;

downloading data from the selected information sources;

filtering the data to identify a subset of the data relating to the at least one parameter;

assigning a scale value to the subset of the data indicating a degree of the event;

storing an event report with the scale value; and

outputting the event report over a communications network.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the event type is one of a biological, economic, terrorist, industrial, conflict, and political event.

26. The method according to claim 24, wherein the surveillance location is one of a town, city, region, and country.

27. The method according to claim 24, wherein the information sources are web servers connected to the Internet.

28. The method according to claim 24, wherein the at least one parameter are individual or combinations of keywords.

29. The method according to claim 24, wherein the step of downloading data from the selected information sources comprises the steps of:

crawling the information sources;

encoding the data; and

storing the encoded data in a first database.

30. The method according to claim 29, further comprising the step of indexing the encoded data.

31. The method according to claim 24, further comprising the step of translating the data from a first language into a second language.

32. The method according to claim 24, wherein the scale value comprises an indicia.

33. The method according to claim 32, wherein the indicia is a word, a phrase, or a color indicia.

34. The method according to claim 24, wherein the scale value is selected from the Wilson-Collmann scale.

35. The method according to claim 24, wherein the scale value is selected from one of an Advisory, a Watch, and a Warning.

36. The method according to claim 24, wherein the step of storing the event report comprises the steps of:

launching a template;

selecting metadata from a stored list of possible metadata;

if an event report exists, updating the existing event report using some of the subset of the data and the metadata; and

if an event report does not exist, storing a first summary of the event using some of the subset of the data and the metadata in an event report file.

37. The method according to claim 24, further comprising the step of reviewing the stored event report.

38. The method according to claim 37, wherein the step of reviewing the event report comprises the steps of:

setting a status field value field to a first status value for the event report;

launching a template to display the first status value and the event report;

identifying a signal associated with the activation of at least one link in the template; and

updating the status field value field to a second status value for the event report.

39. The method according to claim 24, wherein the step of filtering comprises the steps of:

receiving a query search string;

comparing the query search string to an index; and

returning a list comprising the subset of the data using the query search string.

40. A method for communicating the stage of an event, comprising the steps of:

storing at least one parameter associated with each of a plurality of stage values;

storing at least one keyword associated with an event;

downloading data from a plurality of selected information sources using the at least one keyword;

filtering the data to identify a subset of the data relating to the at least one keyword;

comparing the subset of the data to the at least one parameter associated with each of the plurality of stage values;

assigning a stage value to the subset of the data based on the comparison; and

outputting the stage value over a communications network.

41. The method according to claim 40, wherein the event is caused by a communicable disease.

42. The method according to claim 40, wherein the step of downloading data from the plurality of selected information sources comprises the steps of:

crawling the information sources;

encoding the data;

storing the encoded data in a first database;

indexing the encoded data; and

storing the index in the first or a second database.

43. The method according to claim 40, wherein the plurality of staging values are numerical scores.

44. The method according to claim 40, wherein the plurality of staging values are selected from the Wilson-Collmann scale.

45. A system for detecting and communicating event-related information, comprising:

an information collection and processing subsystem, the subsystem comprising at least one article repository database containing a plurality of document files;

an information analysis and reporting subsystem comprising an index of parameters for each of a plurality of indications and warnings associated with a socially disruptive event; and

an information communications subsystem comprising a display module for displaying event-related information.

46. The system according to claim 45, further comprising a plurality of information sources each having downloadable data.

47. The system according to claim 46, further comprising:

a document source index identifying information about the plurality of information sources.

48. The system according to claim 47, further comprising:

a source user interface for searching the document source index.

49. The system according to claim 45, further comprising:

a document index identifying information about the plurality of document files.

50. The system according to claim 49, further comprising:

a search user interface for searching the document index.

51. The system according to claim 45, further comprising:

a search results user interface for displaying one or more of the plurality of document files.

52. The system according to claim 45, wherein the information analysis and reporting subsystem further comprises an event stage table containing scale values for assigning to the event.

53. The system according to claim 45, wherein the information analysis and reporting subsystem further comprises an event report module for creating and storing an event report.

54. The system according to claim 53, further comprising an event report reviewing module for reviewing the stored event report.

55. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method for detecting events, the method comprising:

storing at a first server at least one parameter for each of a plurality of indications and warnings associated with a socially disruptive event;

identifying at least one information source at a second server comprising downloadable data;

downloading the data at the end of a pre-determined time period;

filtering the downloaded data at the first server to identify a subset of the data comprising the at least one parameter;

receiving a scale value assigned to the subset of the data indicating a degree of the event; and

storing an event report comprising the scale value.

56. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, wherein the at least one parameter is one of a word, a number, and a phrase.

57. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, further comprising the steps of:

selecting the socially disruptive event;

identifying the plurality of indications and warnings; and

identifying the at least one parameter for each of the plurality of indications and warnings.

58. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, wherein the step of downloading the data comprises the steps of:

downloading the data from the at least one information source;

encoding the data; and

storing the encoded data in a first database.

59. The computer-readable medium according to claim 58, further comprising the step of indexing the encoded data.

60. The computer-readable medium according to claim 58, further comprising storing a URL associated with the at least one information source in a second database.

61. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, further comprising the step of translating the data or the encoded data from a first language into a second language.

62. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, further comprising the steps of:

executing a model using the downloaded data or the subset of the data; and

providing a ranked list comprising a URL associated with the at least one information source.

63. The computer-readable medium according to claim 62, further comprising the step of outputting a signal comprising a link to the ranked list.

64. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, wherein the scale value comprises an indicia.

65. The computer-readable medium according to claim 64, wherein the indicia is a word, a phrase, or a color indicia.

66. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, wherein the scale value is selected from the Wilson-Collmann scale.

67. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, wherein the scale value is selected from one of an Advisory, a Watch, and a Warning.

68. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, further comprising the step of selecting at least one containment measure from a stored list of containment measures.

69. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, wherein the step of storing the event report comprises the steps of:

launching a template;

selecting metadata from a stored list of possible metadata;

if an event report exists, updating the existing event report using some of the subset of the data and the metadata; and

if an event report does not exist, storing a first summary of the event using some of the subset of the data and the metadata in an event report file.

70. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, further comprising the step of reviewing an event report.

71. The computer-readable medium according to claim 70, wherein the step of reviewing an event report comprises the steps of:

setting a status field value field to a first status value associated with the event report;

launching a template to display the first status value and the event report;

identifying a signal associated with the activation of at least one link in the template; and

updating the status field value field to a second status value for the event report.

72. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, wherein the step of filtering comprises the steps of:

receiving at the first server at least one keyword;

comparing the at least one keyword to the at least one parameter; and

outputting a list comprising the subset of the data.

73. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, further comprising the steps of:

storing a filter event schedule having at least one time event indexed to a pre-determined time of day; and

executing the time event at the pre-determined time of day.

74. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, wherein the event is caused by a communicable disease.

75. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, wherein the event is caused by a transaction between a first party and a second party.

76. The computer-readable medium according to claim 75, wherein the transaction is the exchange of a good or service.

77. The computer-readable medium according to claim 55, further comprising the step of crawling the at least one information source to identify the downloadable data.