SRI International Social Network Analytics Technology Supercharges Popular Online Military Communities

MENLO PARK, Calif.– July 29, 2008– SRI International today announced that its social network analytics technology, iLink, has been integrated into three online military communities. iLink improves the way military users share critical information across a wide variety of domains—from battlefield problem solving, to ongoing professional development, to supporting military families. The military is currently evaluating iLink for a number of additional online communities. The technology is commercially available.

“iLink addresses a major challenge for our networked military communities by helping thousands of members locate knowledge objects while keeping member experiences personal and relevant,” said Lt Col Nate Allen, co-founder of the U.S. Army Platoon Leader and Company Command professional forums. “iLink serves as a surrogate facilitator by identifying ‘who knows what’ within our community and connecting members to each other and to knowledge objects that are relevant to a given question or issue. The Company Command, Platoon Leader and Family Readiness Group Leader forums are incredibly useful to our front-line leaders, and iLink is making an important contribution to their effectiveness.”

The iLink technology is a machine learning based system that models users and content in a social network. It uses these models to deliver highly relevant information to members of the network across a broad range of scenarios. For users, it can point them to valuable content, discussions and, perhaps most importantly, other users with shared interests and goals.  For discussions, it can continuously provide useful relevant content, as well as recommend other users who ought to be part of a particular discussion.

The technology is currently being used in three military sites:

• Platoon Leader — A site that facilitates discussions, information exchange and mutual support between current and former U.S. Army Lieutenants worldwide.
• Company Command — Similar to Platoon Leader, a site specially designed to enable current and former Army Captains to ask questions, exchange information and actively solve problems together.
• Family Readiness Group — This site assists local Family Readiness Group (FRG) coordinators nationwide in helping families deal with the specific challenges of being in a military family, with a special emphasis on information exchange, best practices, and help identifying resources for the families.

“iLink learns to deliver the right answers to the right people at the right time,” said Dr. David Gutelius, product manager, Artificial Intelligence Center, SRI International. “It identifies needs, questions, and issues as they emerge in online communities and matches them with highly relevant resources and people. The goal is a more adaptive, effective problem-solving military.”

The iLink technology was developed as part of the SRI-led CALO (Cognitive Agent that Learns and Organizes) program and was funded and managed under DARPA’s PAL (Personalized Assistant that Learns) program. CALO is a five-year contract to develop an enduring personalized cognitive assistant. iLink is the first example of a military deployed CALO technology.

“Using machine learning and community analytics, we hope to continue helping soldiers and their families sort through miles of content and deliver what’s most relevant to the topic at hand, connecting them quickly to people who can help problem solve,” said Dr. Jeffrey E. Davitz, Director of the Social Computing Group, Artificial Intelligence Center, SRI International. “In partnership with the military, we are focused on creating online communities where soldiers can troubleshoot, converse and brainstorm with soldiers in their social network, leading to new ideas that can quickly be implemented in the field.”

About SRI International
Silicon Valley-based SRI International is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of clients and partners for more than 60 years. The nonprofit research institute performs client-sponsored research and development for government agencies, businesses, and foundations. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships, and creates spin-off companies.

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