Updated: 8/10/2009 8:09:15 PM
The Department of Defense has tracked terrorist activity by using computer software developed in Oak Ridge. Soon, the program will start its latest mission in Knoxville - but in a completely different field.
One of the software's creators, ORNL Applied Software Engineering Group Leader Dr. Tom Potok, says the program quickly files computer data into various categories like "Nuclear" or "Bomb."
"Looking for terrorists, looking for terrorist cells," he said while pointing to the screen displaying a pie-chart of the program's findings.
Now Dr. Potok is adding new categories, sparked by what he witnessed at a recent trip to the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit at the Knoxville Police Department.
"A huge number of files that had these horrendous titles dealing with 8-year-olds and 10-year-olds. I was floored. I couldn't believe that was happening in our state, in our city," Dr. Potok said.
That led to a partnership with several organizations like Y-12, KPD and the National Association to Protect Children, represented by actor David Keith.
"Our organization's dream is to drop an iron curtain between the pedophile and the children," Keith said.
Officials estimate more than 10,000 Tennesseans use their computers to traffic in child pornography.
For law enforcement, manually sifting through just one of those computers adds up to 40 hours of work.
The new program developed by Dr. Potok and his colleagues, does the same job in one hour.
"When you facilitate quicker prosecutions of a case, or you're able to get out on a suspect quicker, you're going to rescue children. You're going to save children," said Tom Evans of the Knoxville Police Department.
"Just imagine the smartest people in the world put on the worst problem in the world, and we're going to get some serious results," Keith said.
KPD agents will test the software in a pilot program they expect to start in the next few weeks. If it's a success, the software could become a national law enforcement standard.
