We propose a solution to exploit Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT) data for Indication and Warnings (I&W) of surges in conflict-related activity across the globe. We demonstrate that our method is capable of flagging major conflict events and providing useful alerts to analysts to enable them to respond quickly to crises. Additionally, we provide tools to allow analysts to extract deeper insights by diving into specific countries to explore alerts on a more granular level. Our user-friendly application serves both as a live dashboard and a central mechanism to visually investigate conflict-relevant GDLET data.

Interactive information visualisation (IViz) and visual analytics (VA) that adopt a complex system perspective would increase the understanding of the maritime traffic network (MTN) and improve maritime situational awareness (MSA).In this work, we concentrate on the relationships between the MTN components at different scales of the system, illustrating examples of IViz/VA tools that integrate visual elements to help focus the end user’s attention on these complex system features. The approach facilitates the discovery of "unknown unknowns" and the detection of emerging behaviours, facilitating the understanding of the elaborated relationships among system elements which often produce outcomes difficult to explain if individual components are examined in isolation. IViz/VA tools in support of use cases where the user is required to assess a maritime security or safety situation are illustrated.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It was first detected in China in December 2019. It spreads between people in close contact. On the 11thMarch 2020 the WHO declared the outbreak of the virus as a pandemic, which signaled a significant acceleration in the global response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and recognized the widespread transmission of the virus across multiple countries and continents. Data regarding COVID-19 was gathered and made available for open access. These data sources offer invaluable information for tracking, raising awareness and understanding of COVID-19, recognizing its impact, as well as informing the general public, health authorities, policy makers, situation managers and decision makers. However, COVID-19 data in its raw form is complex and difficult to understand and analyze. The application of visualization together with human factor design principles in a complex systems framework provides an effective means for exploiting these big and complex datasets. These techniques can transform such inherently non-visual data into intuitive visual forms that enable users to gain insight into, and understanding of, information contained within the data. This paper discusses the application of visualization and development of interactive dashboards, set in a complex systems framework, to provide an effective means for the users to explore, analyze and gain awareness of the situation, thus enabling informed decision making.