European Consortium Receives €12 Million to Develop Forensic Toolbox

A consortium of more than 30 European organisations is going to develop a 'forensic toolkit' which will unlock information from big data. The European Comission reservered €12 million for this project. HSD partners Nederlands Forensisch Instituut (NFI - Dutch Forensic Institute) and TNO are among the 30 organisations. Researchers from the NFI are going to develop search tools which will analyse biometric features extracted from big data. For instance : a suspect appears in a large amount of photos, the data from those photos can be used for biometric features (face recognition, clothing and/or posture) whereby chances of recognition are increased.

The NFI is also going to work on a so called weak signal detection. Weak signal detection are pieces of information which may appear not useful, but when placed in a broader perspective could prove to be essential in closing a case. Organisations over the whole world can use the toolkit when it is finished. The consortium will meet in Madrid coming 13 and 14 September.