The civil war in Syria and the subsequent war against the Islamic State and other terrorist groups are clear examples of the complexity of modern conflict. The number of parties involved, their unrestricted forms of warfare and the fluidity of their organisations are truly baffling.
One of the characteristics of the information age in which we currently live is that information is available to anyone at any time, and that anyone can contribute to the spread of information. Whereas information streams used to be controlled by a couple of (state-owned) sources, nowadays anyone can generate, spread and comment on information.
The volume of data is exploding. Every day organisations and individuals are creating, sharing and, accessing data. Globally, more and more people are being connected via smartphones and social networks. More and more information is also openly available. In this Big Data world how can you find the information you need?