For immediate release:

July 22, 2004

9/11 Commission Uses Imaging Technology from Document Strategies and Xerox

Washington, DC, July 22, 2004    The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11Commission, presented its final report to the United States Congress, the President, and the people of the United States at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium today.  The information in the report was derived from 2.5 million pieces of information.  This included over 500,000 pages of information from many different sources that had to be managed and accessed.  Researchers needed to search the documents based on their content by using words, names, and phrases.  The timeframe to have this done was less than 15 months.  Dianna Campagna, Manager of Operations for the 9/11 Commission, found the answer in technology developed by Document Strategies, Inc. (DSI), and distributed through Xerox Corporation.

“The information in these documents is vital to understanding events that preceded the terrorist attacks on September 11^th, as well as the information uncovered in the investigations and reports generated after the attack that led to the Commission’s recommendations,” says Dianna.  “We could not have done this with a paper-based system.  We needed to use imaging technology that was efficient and we had to have quick and responsive support to assure we met the Commission’s needs.  Document Strategies and Xerox delivered a solution that met our needs and provided excellent support.  We were able to search quickly across thousands of documents to find the ones that were responsive to the broad range of topics being investigated by the staff.”

The imaging technology used included a production scanning system from DSI that converted the paper and OCR text file of the page.  This output was imported to DSI’s server-based DocViewer software solution, which generated a comprehensive word index for all the documents and stored the document images for network access by multiple users in three locations.  The DocViewer software allowed researchers to search the documents containing a specific word, name, or phrase.  The matched document images were then displayed for review and reading by the researcher. 

Many of the documents contained many names and places that had multiple spellings due to translation variances.  The robustness of the DocViewer software allowed finding names with exact matching of characters and names with similar spellings very quickly.  This provided researchers the ability to find documents about the same person easily even if the name was spelled several different ways.  Another search mode allowed Commission researchers to find documents with words of similar meaning.  The solution allowed them to find and link documents, people, groups, etc., that could not have been accomplished with a paper-only approach. 

The evaluation of the retrieved information led to understanding the significance of the conspiracy that preceded the attacks, the participants, as well as the assessments of others as reported by the 9/11 Commission during its hearings and findings.  “At the start the 9/11 Commission asked for some changes and additions to the DocViewer product, and DSI responded quickly.  The changes provided them with exactly what they needed to get the information and in the manner requested,” states Michael Maxwell, DSI representative.  “The magnitude and importance of what the 9/11 Commission had to accomplish was paramount with all of our employees.  The Commission’s needs were number one priority for us.  We are thrilled to have been part of this effort so vital to our country and the Commission’s charter.”

About the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.   

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9/11 Commission), an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation and the signature of President George W. Bush in late 2002, is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. The Commission, chaired by Thomas H. Kean, is also mandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks.

About Document Strategies, Inc.

Document Strategies was founded in 1997 in Rochester, NY.  The company has placed many systems in large law firms specializing in litigation in the US and Europe.  DSI products are highly integrated, high reliability and productive for users.  DSI’s products and technology are also deployed in the US Attorney Offices, Department of Transportation, US Treasury, and other agencies.  Document Strategies is a privately held company. 

 www.docstrategies.com