From the dawn of time, man has communicated events, knowledge, and lessons through spoken word and through images. As evidenced on cave walls, on ancient pottery, and on hidden frescos in ruined temples around the world. We communicate through images. It’s a key universal component in the formation of languages. Through images, we convey information that, when put to use, is knowledge.
Even as a linguist in the Military, when I couldn’t communicate verbally with a person (Because they were Bengali and I spoke Arabic- long story) , I could communicate with pictures, drawn in the sand or on the side of my vehicle. I had information, (in the ‘aforementioned case was that this dude was taking his flock of nasty sheep into an Artillery impact area) that I had to communicate to them. I did this through images (a circle drawn in the sand to represent where we were, and little rocks to represent the flock of sheep and bigger rocks to the left to represent the Artillery battery to our north that was about to open up. Throw in a few hand gestures and explosions, and he got it! He presented a big smile and called to his flock and they all went over the berm and lived happily ever after. I was able to communicate information through an image.
It’s said that a picture speaks a thousand words. This can be an understatement when dealing with complex information and relationships. A mere thousand words can sometimes barely scratch the surface when discussing the activities of a gang operating in your precinct in the last two years or arguing the case to a jury against a human trafficking organization. Consider a key event in your past; either positive or negative, and now imaging communicating it to a complete stranger, effectively and in detail, and doing it in only one thousand words.
What if you could do it with images? What if you could identify key elements of your story; persons, objects, transactions, events, and how they related to each other? Building clear understanding in your audience, of those key elements of the information that YOU carry and need to communicate to THEM.
This is what using i2 can enable you to do. Every day it is enabling people to tell their stories to detectives, prosecutors, district attorneys, military commanders, grand juries, and types of decision-makers. But you already know that. That’s why you’re here.
Future posts of this blog will discuss anecdotes and examples of how i2 has been used, the analytical tricks to getting the most out of the data before us, and some success stories and great ways to clearly communicate your findings to those information consumers out there. Information to Image.
Chuck Izzo
Account Executive
Blue Light LLC
t. (919) 551 5673 e. chuck.izzo@bluelightllc.com