Expert on the Information Intelligence, Tracking Information about Terrorists
Tomek Strzalkowski

Contact: Karl Luntta (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (August 5, 2003) -- As the latest terror attack claims more than a dozen lives in Jakarta, the question important to intelligence communities world-wide is simple, but is in many ways the hardest question of all: where is next?

Associate Professor of Computer Science and head of UAlbany's Institute for Informatics Tomek Strzalkowski is an expert on information intelligence and tracking information about terrorists. He is building an automated question-answering system that would help analysts flesh out seemingly unrelated information around the edges of a problem; when added together, these facts may yield hypotheses not considered before. "I am building an application for the intelligence community for people whose job it is to look at information coming from anywhere that may impact on national security. Essentially it means being a detective, a Sherlock Holmes, and remembering a piece you read a week ago. This is where computers can help: Computers can remember things forever and make the connections," said Strzalkowski.

Tomek Strzalkowski is available for print and television interviews, guest commentary and expert analysis. For more information or queries, please contact University at Albany Media Relations, (518) 437-4980.

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