The name is the game

Visual Analytics Inc. of Poolesville, Md., said it will integrate name-recognition technology into its data mining and pattern-recognition solutions, which are used by law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The technology, from Herndon, Va.-based Language Analysis Systems Inc., may help agencies identify multicultural names in data such as watch lists.

Names are considered unreliable data because they can be represented so many different ways based on phonetics, spellings, nicknames, abbreviations or cultural nuances. Agencies have used Language Analysis Systems' Name Hunter and Name Classifier applications to find and understand unfamiliar names, regardless of how they're represented.