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STIDS Logo

SEMANTIC TECHNOLOGY FOR
INTELLIGENCE, DEFENSE, AND SECURITY

STIDS 2010



Schedule of Events


Tuesday, October 26
09:20 - 10:00     Registration
   
10:30 - 05:00     Tutorial
   

Wednesday, October 27th
08:10 - 08:50     Registration and Breakfast
   
09:00 - 09:20     Welcome by the President of GMU
   
09:20 - 09:30     Administrative remarks
   
09:30 - 10:30     Keynote Address
Pat Hayes -
Ontology Languages: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
presentation


(Bio)

   
10:30 - 11:00     Break
   
11:00 - 12:00     Poster Session
   
12:00 - 01:30     Lunch
   
01:30 - 03:00     Parallel Session

Research Session 1 - Chair: Brian Ulicny
01:30 - 02:15     Maintaining Temporal Perspective
paper        presentation
Ian Emmons and Douglas Reid
Raytheon BBN Technologies
Abstract

We present methods for annotating data with the time when it was learned and for answering queries according to what was known at any point in time. Specifically, we present an RDF knowledge representation that associates facts with their time intervals of validity, and a query mechanism that transforms a time-agnostic SPARQL query and a point in time into a new, time-sensitive query. The transformed query yields the subset of the results of the original query that were valid at the indicated time. In addition, the methods presented here enable non-destructive merging of coreferences. These techniques apply broadly to storage and retrieval systems that require time-based versioning of data and are essential for maintaining temporal perspective in rapidly- evolving analytical environments.

02:15 - 03:00     Introducing Ontological Realism for Semi-Supervised
Detection and Annotation of Operationally Significant
Activity in Surveillance Videos
paper        presentation
Werner Ceusters, Jason Corso,
Yun Fu, Michalis Petropoulos,
Venkat Krovi
University at Buffalo
Abstract

As part of DARPA's Mind's Eye program, a video-analysis software platform able to detect operationally significant activity in videos is being developed. The goal is to describe such activity semi-automatically in terms of verb phrases mapped to a realism-based ontology that can be used to infer and even predict further activities that are not directly visible. We describe how Region Connection Calculus and its derivative, Motion Class Calculus, can be used together to link the spatiotemporal changes that pixel-aggregates undergo in video-displays to the corresponding changes of the objects in reality that were recorded and to linguistic descriptions thereof. We discuss how Ontological Realism can be used as a safeguard to drawing such correspondences naively.


Applications Session 1 - Chair: Mary Parmelee
01:30 - 02:15     Reified Literals: A Best Practice Candidate Design Pattern
for Increased Expressivity in the Intelligence Community
paper        presentation
Eric Peterson
Global Infotek, Inc.

Abstract

Reifying literals clearly increases expressivity. But reified literals appear to waste memory, slow queries, and complicate graph-based models. We show where this practice can be comparable to unreified literals in these respects and we characterize the cost where it is not. We offer examples of how reification allows literals to participate in a variety of relations enabling a marked increase in expressivity. We begin with a case study in reified person names, and then extend this analysis to reified dates and simple reified scalar values. We show benefits for name matching and temporal analysis such as would be of interest to the Intelligence Community (IC). We then show how these same sorts of analyses can drive or inform any decision as to whether to reify literals.

02:15 - 03:00     Using New Standards to Develop IC Ontologies
paper        presentation
Richard Lee
Booz Allen Hamilton
Abstract

In this paper we describe recent work in adapting various new OWL and ontology standards to ontology development for the IC and DoD. We present work done to adapt the Universal Core Semantic Layer (UCore SL) standard ontology to support intelligence analysts. We show how new features in the OWL 2 standard can be used to make such ontologies simpler and more readable, and how they facilitate modeling the relationships of concepts across models. We present a proposed standard security model using OWL 2. We conclude with planned future ontology development using these standards.

   
03:00 - 03:30     Break
   
03:30 - 05:00     Parallel Session

Research Session 2 - Chair: Larry Kerschberg
03:30 - 04:15     Sample Ontological Constructs to Create
Money Laundering Schemes
paper        presentation
Murad Mehmet and
Duminda Wijesekera
George Mason University
Abstract

There is an increasing tendency in the money laundering sector to utilize electronic commerce and web services. Misuse of web services and electronic money transfers occurs at many points in complex trading schemes. We provide ontological components that can be combined to construct some of these money laundering schemes. These constructs can be helpful for investigators, in order to decompose suspected financial schemes and recognize financial misuses.

04:15 - 05:00     Enabling Rich Discovery of Web Services by
Projecting Weak Semantics from
Structural Specifications
paper       
Leo Obrst, Dru McCandless,
Michael Bankston
MITRE Corporation
Abstract

Although we would prefer using defined ontologies that express the domains and specifications of web services, and thus more easily discover and compose these, we know that in the mainstream world represented by the US Department of Defense we will not have those ontologies available soon. In the meantime we have to ensure a transition from structural to semantic methods, including web service discovery methods. In this paper, we are proposing a different approach for dynamic web service discovery that takes advantage of the structure inherent in web services that are defined by WSDL documents. Since the structure is usually based on XML Schema, there is enough information present in these documents to develop a broadly applicable approach. Furthermore, if a consistent and detailed naming convention of schema artifacts is followed, then discovery can be made more precise. This paper describes our approach for projecting weak semantics from structural information for discovery of web services.


Applications Session 2 - Chair: Tim Darr
03:30 - 04:15     TIACRITIS System and Textbook:
Learning Intelligence Analysis through Practice
paper        presentation
Gheorghe Tecuci, Mihai Boicu,
Dorin Marcu, David Schum,
Learning Agents Center,
George Mason University;

Benjamin Hamilton
Department of Defense
Abstract

This paper presents the TIACRITIS web agent and textbook for teaching intelligence analysts the critical thinking skills needed to perform evidence-based reasoning. They are based on a computational theory which views Intelligence Analysis as ceaseless discovery of evidence, hypotheses, and arguments, in a complex world that is changing all the time. TIACRITIS helps students learn about the properties, uses, and marshaling of evidence upon which all analyses rest, through regular practice involving analyses of evidence in both hypothetical and real situations.

04:15 - 05:00     Semantic Wiki for Visualization of
Social Media Analysis
paper        presentation
Daniel Reininger, David Ihrie,
and Bob Bullard
Semandex Networks, Inc.
Abstract

A semantic wiki provides visualization of social media analysis applicable to military Information Operations and law enforcement counter- terrorism efforts. Using inputs from disparate data sets, semantic software exports data to link analysis, geospatial displays, and temporal representation. Challenges encountered in software development include the balance between automated and human assisted entity extraction, interoperability with existing visualization systems and ontology management.

   
06:00     Social Event

Thursday, October 28
08:30 - 09:00     Breakfast
   
09:00 - 10:00     Keynote Address
Dennis E. Wisnosky -
Semantic Technology in the Department of Defense,
Business Mission Area
presentation


Dennis Wisnosky, Business Mission Area Chief Architect and CTO of the
Department of Defense, brings his expert guidance to the STIDS 2010
conference. Could semantic technologies, notably data constructed
with RDF OWL, and capabilities delivered as services within a SOA
be a new paradigm for business intelligence and business applications?
Dennis will talk about the strategy, current initiatives and challenges
related to the use of Semantic Technology in the DoD, and discuss the
Departments early Proof of Delivery (PoD) projects designed to test
the limits of both semantic technologies and the ability of the
organization to use them effectively. (Bio)

   
10:00 - 10:30     Coffee Break
   
10:30 - 12:00     Parallel Session

Research Session 3 - Chair: Richard Markeloff
10:30 - 11:15     Using Ontological Information to Enhance Responder
Availability in Emergency Response
paper        presentation
Paul Ngo and
Duminda Wijesekera
George Mason University
Abstract

Ensuring effective communications during emergencies is an important issue for any functional government. One way to address this issue is to ensure the availability of the key personnel capable of making the appropriate decisions and taking timely actions with sufficient resources. Many XML-based languages such as the Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) and associated Common Alert Protocol (CAP) have been designed to provide a basis for such communications. To ensure that messages are delivered in a timely manner, we propose some role and task based ontological enhancements for these languages. We show by example how the ontological enhancements can be used to enhance availability of emergency personnel in case of a need.

11:15 - 12:00     Patient-Centric Secure-and-Privacy-Preserving
Service-Oriented Architecture for Health
Information Integration and Exchange
paper        presentation
Mahmoud Awad and
Larry Kerschberg
George Mason University
Abstract

In this paper, we propose a secure and privacy-preserving Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) for health information integration and exchange in which patients are "part owners" of their medical records, have complete ownership of their integrated health information and decide when and how data is modified or exchanged between healthcare providers or insurance companies. This architecture is different from integrated Personal Health Record (PHR) such as Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault in that electronic health records are not stored in online databases but instead are aggregated on-demand using web service requests. Web service providers working on behalf of the patients do not keep copies of the complete EHR but instead provide a pass- through service, and would require PKI-based security certificates to initiate health information exchange.


Applications Session 3 - Chair: Mike Dean
10:30 - 11:15     The Application of a Course-of-Action Ontology
to Support OPFOR COA Selection and Assessment
paper        presentation
Timothy Darr, Richard Mayer
and Perakath Benjamin
Knowledge-Based Systems, Inc.
Abstract

This paper describes the application of a course-of-action (COA) ontology to a demonstration scenario that the authors' company participated in that included a task to forecast the COAs to be executed by a simulated insurgent opposing force (OPFOR). The COA ontology includes standard decision-theoretic concepts to describe preference models from the perspective of an insurgent group for the purpose of predicting possible OPFOR COAs. The OPFOR preference structure is represented as a preference graph that visually displays the ranking of the COAs, from the perspective of the OPFOR decision maker, highlighting the most and least preferred COAs.

11:15 - 12:00     A Semantic Wiki Alerting Environment Incorporating
Credibility and Reliability Evaluation
paper        presentation
Brian Ulicny,
Christopher J. Matheus,
and Mieczyslaw M. Kokar
VIStology, Inc. (all);
Northeastern University (Kokar)
Abstract

In this paper, we describe a system that semantically annotates streams of reports about transnational criminal gangs in order to automatically produce models of the gangs' membership and activities in the form of a semantic wiki. A gang ontology and semantic inferencing are used to annotate the reports and supplement entity and relationship annotations based on the local document context. Reports in the datastream are annotated for reliability and credibility in the proof-of-concept system.

   
12:00 - 01:30     Lunch Break
   
01:30 - 03:00     Parallel Session

Applications Session 4 - Chair: Ian Emmons
01:30 - 02:15     Collected Imagery Ontology:
Semantics for Airborne Video
paper        presentation
Alexander Mirzaoff
Geospatial Systems ITT
Abstract

A prototype Video Imagery Ontology has been developed to derive video imagery intelligence, VideoIMINT. The ontology includes the development of classes and properties to address video image content, and video collection metadata related to platforms, sensors and collection operations. Preliminary feature extraction of video imagery content classes was functionally utilized to identify important video segments in an integrated viewer. Integrated data storage systems and fusion processes are proposed and discussed.


Applications Session 5 - Chair: Duminda Wijesekera
01:30 - 02:15     Toward an Ontology Architecture for
Cyber-Security Standards
paper        presentation
Mary C. Parmelee
MITRE Corporation
Abstract

The rapid growth in magnitude and complexity of cyber-security information and event management (CSIEM) has ignited a trend toward security automation and information exchange standards. Making Security Measurable (MSM) references a collection of open community standards for the common enumeration, expression and reporting of cyber-security-related information. While MSM-related standards are valuable for enabling security automation; insufficient vocabulary management and data interoperability methods as well as domain complexity that exceeds current representation capabilities impedes the adoption of these important standards. This paper describes an Agile, ontology architecture-based approach for improving the ability to represent, manage, and implement MSM-related standards. Initial cross-standard analysis revealed enough common concepts to warrant four ontologies that are reusable across standards. This reuse will simplify standards-based data interoperability. Further, early prototyping enabled us to streamline vocabulary management processes and demonstrate the ability to represent complex domain semantics in OWL ontologies.

   
02:15 - 02:45     Break
   
02:45 - 04:25     Plenary Session
   

STIDS Panel - Chair: Leo Obrst
02:45 - 4:10     Semantic Technology:
Ready for prime time?
Leo Obrst, Mike Dean, Paulo Costa,
Terry Janssen, Katherine Goodier
STIDS 2010 Panelists
Abstract

There is some controversy on whether Semantic Technologies are ready to be used in support for Intelligence, Defense, and Security applications. Each panelist will provide a brief account on the use of ST within his or her respective area, focusing on the following issues:
Where is semantic technology now?
Where does it have to go yet to be successful? and
How to facilitate its adoption by the federal community represented by the domains of STIDS?
After this brief account, the panelists will be answering questions from the audience.

04:10 - 04:25     STIDS 2011 Preview
Paulo Costa
GMU - C4I Center
Abstract

This will be a brief plenary session in which the current status of STIDS 2011planing (e.g. dates, features, people, etc.) will be presented. Suggestions and ideas from the audience will be mostly welcomed.

   
04:25 - 04:30     Wrap Up

Friday, October 29th
08:30 - 05:00     Classified Workshop
   




Last updated: 04/11/2012