Home Office sends out tech terror plea

 

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By Stewart Mitchell

Posted on 14 Aug 2009 at 12:08

The Government has called on UK technologists to join the fight against terror by developing systems to counter extremists on the internet and in public life.

In a call to arms, security minister Lord West said Britain should use its position as a world leader in science and technology to counter the “real and serious threat from terrorism”.

"We need to match products and ideas to problems, which is why we are actively inviting people to join us and share expertise,”] says Lord West. "British technology can have greater practical applications across the world and is just one more tool in our fight against those who would wish to do us harm."

"We need to match products and ideas to problems, which is why we are actively inviting people to join us and share expertise,”

As part of the government’s CONTEST counter terrorism strategy, the Home Office has published a brochure pdf explaining how industry and academia can improve areas including biometric scanning, crowd screening, data analysis and knowledge management.

Proposed areas for research include crowd management technologies, including “systems and algorithms to detect abnormal behaviour while minimising the intrusion on members of the public”.

Behind the claim that "modern technology has provided terrorists with powerful new tools and techniques" the strategy and brochure outline what the key challenges are, and invite experts to get in touch to see if they can help the security services and military.

However, the government has no plans to actually fund the research merely to appeal to a sense of civil duty, a spokesperson told PC Pro. "This is not really about funding," she said. “This is all about encouraging people to come forward with ideas and technologies.”