TerrorismLarge terrorism database offers valuable information
The federally funded national consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), located at University of Maryland, has developed its Global Terrorism Database (GTD), the largest database of its kind. It includes more than 113,000 identified cases of terrorism around the globe – among themmore than 52,000 bombings, 14,400 assassinations, and 5,600 kidnappings – and provides available information on the date, location, weapons used, nature of target, number of casualties, and name of the group or individual responsible for each incident.
Concerns about terrorism during the recent Winter Olympics in Sochi led to Russia to impose strict security measures in the Caucasus region.
Erin Miller, the program manager for the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), produced by the federally funded national consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), located at University of Maryland, says, however, that “there’s no consistent pattern that indicates terrorism goes up or down during Olympics.” . Analysts at START have monitored terrorism trends spanning nearly four decades, resulting in a database that includes more than 113,000 identified cases of terrorism around the globe.
As an open-source database, the GTD is the largest database of its kind and is used by government agencies, researchers, and the public to identify and analyze patterns of terrorism worldwide. The U.S State Department uses the GTD in its annual report to Congress.
The GTD program scans 1.3 million articles and media sites around the globe daily, and then collects 12,000 to 16,000 potentially relevant incidents each month by identifying key words related to terrorism. The GTD program’s recommendations are then reviewed by human readers who decide whether the information identified by the GTD program is credible and whether it should be included in the database based on an agreed upon definition of terrorism. “It’s an interesting process of balancing the capabilities of technology with the capabilities of the human coders,” Miller said.
According to Tech Page One, the database contains details on more than 52,000 bombings, 14,400 assassinations, and 5,600 kidnappings. The GTD program, developed in-house, provides available information on the date, location, weapons used, nature of target, number of casualties, and name of the group or individual responsible for each incident.
The GTD is capable of detecting patterns and trends in what may seem to be random acts of terrorism. “What tends to be surprising is that nothing in particular is straightforward,” Miller said. “It’s been interesting how complex these patterns can be. The challenge is in interpreting the complexities of what the data show.”
The university operated database illustrates the potential and limitations of computer-based data collection and the roles universities play in global research. Operating an open-source database that relies on public data may contain inaccuracies and inconsistencies. News reports may be subject to censorship, and misinterpretations may occur due to language translation programs used. Additionally, the definition of terrorism is widely in debate.
Despite the limitations, the data has been helpful in combating and understanding terrorism. According to John Bagby, co-director of the Institute for Information Policy at Penn State University, unlike industry, universities generally have an ideal of “maintaining public-domain access to data and a strong belief that society benefits from research findings.”
