MetaCarta and ArdentMC Provide Situational Awareness for DHS During National Conventions and Hurricanes

GEOINT 2008 Symposium -- MetaCarta, Inc., the leading provider of geographic search and referencing solutions and partner ArdentMC have provided a location-based situational awareness solution for the Department of Homeland Security National Operation Center (NOC). The solution was used during the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and during Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike to combine information from open news sources and DHS intelligence on a map so that watch standers could visualize what was happening in a specific geographic area as real-time events occur. See a NOC map illustrating breaking news during Hurricane Ike .

During crisis situations, "on-the-ground" information comes from a variety of sources such as news sources, citizen blogs, and various government organizations and must be combined to provide a complete picture about a particular location. This information is shared at all levels through the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN) and helps DHS officials coordinate the appropriate response for a particular incident.

The solution used the MetaCarta Geographic Search and Referencing Platform (MetaCarta GSRP). MetaCarta GSRP identifies places and points-of-interest in text documents, news feeds, email, reports, web pages and blogs, and assigns latitude and longitude coordinates so that the content can be searched, retrieved, and visually displayed on a map. Today, not all geographic references can be identified by traditional text search engines. The MetaCarta GSRP can identify more than 190 million place names and public sector agencies are now able to geo-enable all of their content in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, or mixed-language documents so it can be used in location-based applications to help visualize trends and enhance intelligence analysis.

"More than 80% of all unstructured data has some type of geographic reference however today's search solutions are unable to find references beyond the location name because geographic language is inherently ambiguous. It is critical for DHS to gain a complete picture of what is happening in a particular location during a crisis, and MetaCarta's solutions are able to find all of the information about a particular place," said John Donnelly III, Vice President of Sales and Field Operations for MetaCarta. "ArdentMC combines technical, program management, and geospatial expertise with a high level of commitment to their clients."

GEOINT 2008 Symposium, the Nation's Premier Intelligence event, takes place Oct. 27-30 in Nashville, Tenn. Get complete details and register today at www.geoint2008.com .

About ArdentMC

Ardent Management Consulting is a results oriented, program management and IT consulting firm specializing in large scale program management, business process consulting and complex systems integration for clients ranging from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to Fortune 500 entities within the private sector. ArdentMC was founded on the principle that serving our clients is a privilege -- and that meeting our clients' missions requires superior, highly dedicated resources, a focus on execution, and a never ending commitment to excellence. For more information about ArdentMC, please visit http://www.ardentmc.com .

About MetaCarta

MetaCarta, Inc. is the leading provider of geographic search and referencing solutions. MetaCarta products make data and unstructured content "location-aware," making that information geographically relevant. Using a map interface, these innovative solutions make it possible for customers to discover, visualize, and act on important location-based information. Founded by a team of MIT researchers in 2001, MetaCarta is privately held, with US headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts and offices in Vienna, Virginia and Houston, Texas and resellers worldwide. For more information, please visit www.metacarta.com or MetaCarta Resource Center .

MetaCarta is a trademark of MetaCarta, Incorporated. All other product or corporate references may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

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Contact: Lisa Allocca Red Javelin Communications, Inc. 1 978-470-2227 lisa@redjavelin.com