Recently, US television channel Fox released the tenth season of X-Files aired. For those unfamiliar with X-Files, this series deals with crimes that have never been solved and have since been given (extremely) low priority by the FBI. These cases are all characterised by unexplained matters, such as paranormal or extraterrestrial phenomena.
In many episodes, the main characters (Mulder and Scully) are situated in cluttered archive rooms or unsecured storage facilities, using slow mainframe computers. They are also constantly ploughing through Ministry of Defence systems to find the context of their work and the links between different cases.
That looks like a pretty inefficient working model from an ECM perspective. No wonder Mulder and Scully then needed several seasons to prove alien life and government conspiracies.
I have a theory: our protagonists could have produced the same evidence in one season, two at most, if they were using an ECM system. Let's see what could have happened if all that stuff had been stored and managed in M-Files.
Content
"The answers are there, you just need to know how to find them." Dana Scully
In all its investigations, the FBI seeks to identify and classify the personal and behavioural characteristics of a possible suspect in relation to the crime and possible other crimes and acts committed by that person. This process consists of several stages, the first two of which consist of collection and classification.
To keep it simple: for Mulder and Scully, these phases mean collecting data from crime scene reports and forensics, from physical records (unstructured data) and pulling data in from the FBI mainframe (structured data). The basis of this method has three aspects: good data management, making information findable and securing that information. This fits seamlessly with M-Files!
M-Files can significantly simplify and speed up the above process for the investigation team in a number of ways:
1. Collecting
This involves bringing together all kinds of data, documents, conversations, videos, etc. related to the crime. This involves trying to discover the relationship between all that data. Fans of the series know that one of the biggest frustrations is that time and again files are incomplete, documents have disappeared, etc. Another frustration is that information cannot be found, available or secured. Like in season 1, episode 1, where Mulder is unable to prove the alien abduction of some students - who were being tested. The only piece of evidence (a metal implant) is lost because the 'smoking man' has stored it in an elaborate unfathomable archive somewhere under the Pentagon. Had Mulder been able to store the X-Files in M-Files, it would not have mattered if 'smoking man' had stashed away the physical documents in a hidden archive under the Pentagon. The digital versions would be in the M-Files Enterprise Content Management system. Moreover, those files would secure be accessible only by Mulder and Scully based on metadata linked to the information and the specific powers of the main characters. Should 'smoking man' gain access to this system at all, M-Files would record this immediately and make it provable afterwards. With the security of M-Files, 'smoking man' would never have become 'the arch enemy'.
2. Classifying
This phase involves relating all the data collected. This is quicker said than done for Mulder and Scully as they deal with a variety of forms of information: systems, paper files and hidden archives. The common thread throughout the series is that aliens, with the help of a shadow government, are planning to take over Earth and colonise it. Imagine if Mulder had saved all the files in M-Files, metadata them and then could combine the search terms 'alien', 'abduction', 'alien', 'hybrid'. Then he would have been able to frame his investigation area within moments. Then he would be able to effortlessly approach and shape the case from different perspectives. He would very quickly discover patterns and similarities in the data, all made possible by advanced search functions in M-Files. M-Files would allow linking information from reports (a crime scene analysis) with information about objects (such as the metal implant). In short, with M-Files, Mulder would be able to discover the connection and context between all the scattered (information) puzzle pieces. He would bring the case to a solution (quickly).
Granted: then the series is much less fun, but it is more interesting for us, as ECM specialists, to watch.
Bastiaan Brefeld
Manager Business Development
bastiaan.brefeld@geone.nl