MindBugs Discovery
Do you believe there’s more to uncover about how false information spreads and influences our world?🔥
If you answer yes, you’re in for a treat with this new interview. In it, you’ll discover how TechWave Development, a beneficiary of NGI Search, is making strides in understanding and combating disinformation through its project: MindBugs.
Are you curious to learn how they help experts and journalists analyse and visualise disinformation trends across Europe?
Join us and learn everything about this initiative, which was born to tackle one of today’s most pressing issues.🚀
Introduce yourself and your company, and explain what makes you different.
Our company, TechWave Development, was established in 2021. Our first projects specialised in customised administrative platforms for businesses.
One year after our inception, we launched the MindBugs project, an initiative to delve into the complexities and implications of disinformation. Unlike traditional approaches focusing on blocking or filtering content, the MindBugs project seeks to enhance our understanding of disinformation.
What services or products do you offer?
Our project began with the MindBugs AR Game and the MindBugs AI & Art Exhibition, both part of a cultural endeavour designed to reveal the structure of disinformation artistically.
Following this, we developed MindBugs Discovery, a tool for experts to identify and study recurring European disinformation patterns.
What milestones have you achieved so far since your project launch?
Through the NGI Search project, we have successfully developed an open-source web tool called MindBugs Discovery that allows disinformation to be analysed and understood. Our search engine enhances the investigative process by understanding the context of queries, allowing journalists and researchers to find the most relevant debunked claims efficiently. This capability reduces the time spent searching and increases the time available for detailed reporting.
Additionally, our tool features geographical spread and timeline visualisations. These intuitive graphs let users see how disinformation trends vary across regions and evolve, turning complex data into actionable insights.
The MindBugs Tool also incorporates graphics and an interactive 3D graph environment. This 3D graph feature provides a dynamic way to explore data, revealing connections and patterns in the disinformation landscape and making complex analyses feasible and engaging.
Our MVP has been presented and tested with journalists at international venues such as the IPI World Congress 2024 in Sarajevo and OW2Con 2024 in Paris.🤩
💫Through the NGI Search project, MindBugs Discovery has set a new standard in the tools available for journalists and researchers dedicated to uncovering and understanding disinformation.💫
What are your goals for the middle/long-time future?
Looking ahead to the middle and long-term future, our primary goal is to introduce MindBugs Discovery into the market within large organisations focusing on informational security. By targeting entities deeply engaged in maintaining and safeguarding information integrity, we aim to become an essential tool in their toolkit against disinformation.
Beyond the initial market of informational security, we plan to explore additional markets where our tool’s analytical capabilities can be equally valuable. These include the retail, education, and public policy sectors, where understanding text patterns in large datasets is essential.
Through strategic expansions and by continually enhancing our tool’s features, we aim to broaden our impact and help more organisations in various fields explore and understand text data effectively.
Any piece of advice for those who are looking for public funding?
I’m not sure if I’m the best person to offer advice on this topic. We were fortunate to be part of the NGI Search program, which was an excellent fit for our project.🚀
I recommend NGI Search and other similar projects as they provide substantial support and resources. However, for specific advice on securing public funding, it feels like a lot comes down to finding a program that aligns well with your goals.
