The Home Office is aiming to step up the adoption of multimedia auto redaction tools in policing and the criminal justice system.
It has reported on the progress of a project run by the Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) – its unit that deals with challenges in the emergence of data and digital technologies – saying it has received a series of reports and is considering the next steps to deliver AI powered tools to police forces as soon as possible.
The project has been aimed at providing technologies that enable police to share material with courts and other parties while redacting sensitive details such as identities and licence plates.
ACE has carried out a market review of existing multimedia redaction tools, firstly through an analysis of those available, followed by a series of tests on their capabilities using synthetic data from Surrey Police.
Gap analysis
The next phase involved six candidates being invited to demonstrate their tools to senior stakeholders in the Office of the Policing Chief Scientific Adviser and the Home Office, running live redaction on the synthetic data. This has made it possible to document the tools’ capabilities and conduct a gap analysis.
The Home Office said this is aimed at accelerating the developing and adoption of the technology, “creating user efficiencies as well as ensuring that police can confidently share information with other organisations as needed”.
The department has highlighted the project soon after the Police Digital Service announced the creation of a procurement framework for tools with the more limited capability to redact text from documents. It has awarded places to four suppliers and indicated that the contract will be worth up to £10 million over four years.
