Automate transcription and translation of foreign language videos for OSINT

OSINT pro but only fluent in English? Research videos and audio clips in 80+ languages to rapidly assess foreign language video and audio clips.

You’re researching on TikTok, exploring through a point of presence that lets you set your location and browser settings so you can change your algorithm. Suddenly a video of a Russian oligarch pops into your feed. The speech is passionate, animated. What he’s saying could be essential to the report you’ve been working on for months — except you don’t speak Russian.

A new feature from Silo for Research solves one of open-source intelligence (OSINT) analysts' biggest headaches — quickly and efficiently transcribing and translating clips from foreign language posts, even as a non-fluent speaker. Being able to quickly pivot from Russian to Ukrainian, Mandarin to Cantonese, or Arabic to Urdu is an essential function of rapidly assessing the relevance of foreign language content to your investigation. 

With Silo Transcription and Translation, researchers can also subtitle foreign language videos. The automated subtitle feature makes it easier for researchers to analyze material in context, as well as share and collaborate with their team. 

It may turn out the video you found isn’t relevant to your research, it’s just a Russian man passionately arguing about soccer. But the faster you find this out, the quicker you can go back to collecting what you need.

Automate for faster time-to-insight

In today's fast-paced world, analysts are constantly seeking innovative ways to extract relevant information from publicly available foreign language video and audio content. But language expertise is hard to come by, and accessing resources to manually transcribe and translate videos can be constrained, time-consuming and convoluted. Machine-based transcription and translation built into an analyst’s research environment empowers rapid self-triage of the value of foreign language videos and audio files — instantly.

Silo Transcription and Translation — a powerful add-on capability within the Silo for Research platform — is a tool that enables analysts to leverage foreign language videos to corroborate other collected information or assist in event monitoring, all while maintaining appropriate tradecraft. By utilizing this technology, analysts can access multiple outputs for review, including a translated transcription text file, making it easier than ever to extract valuable insights from foreign language content.

Analysts have access to an array of features and benefits that make the process of reviewing foreign language content seamless and efficient.

Automatic language detection

With Silo Transcription and Translation’s impressive auto-detection feature, analysts can automatically detect over 25 languages, with an additional manual selection for up to 80 languages and dialects. The technology can even auto-detect language and speaker changes for video transcription, ensuring analysts don’t miss any key information — even when reviewing text-based information only.

Automate collection in line with tradecraft best practices

Silo Transcription and Translation is fully integrated into Silo for Research's collection and analysis tool suite. Combined with Silo for Research’s Collector extension, analysts can automate scheduled and recurring content collections, including the transcription and translation or video content, to minimize the burden of odd-hour or randomized collections in line with tradecraft.

Securely save and share collected data

Once any data is collected, it needs a secure place to be stored and means to share with team members without the potential for malicious content to end up on an analyst’s device or the organization’s network. Silo Drive cloud storage gives analysts access to a secure storage and collaboration tool.

Streamline reporting

This integration streamlines the report-writing process and ensures that decision makers have access to the most up-to-date and accurate information available. Transcribed and subtitled videos and audio recordings can be quickly added to reports with minimal effort from the analyst, so analysts can go back to finding, collecting and analyzing important information.

Focus on what matters most

Silo Transcription and Translation is an innovative solution that is changing the way analysts assess foreign language videos and audio content and saving time. By leveraging machine-based transcription and translation, analysts can rapidly self-triage the value of foreign language content, corroborate other collected information and assist in event monitoring — all while maintaining appropriate tradecraft. The feature lets analysts focus on creative analysis and collection, while letting automation take care of the rest. With a wide array of features and benefits, Silo Transcription and Translation is the ideal solution for analysts seeking to extract valuable insights from foreign language content and build comprehensive reports for decision makers.

To see how Silo for Research tool suite can automate processes and alleviate researcher workloads, request a demo.