Twitter data can be used to develop a map that pinpoints hijacking hot spots, as presented by University of the Western Cape Computer Science student, Taahir Patel, at the Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC), hosted by Telkom.
South African drivers are constantly at risk of being hijacked. Over the last quarter, the country has recorded a steep increase in the number of incidents. In the period between April and June 2022, 5,866 hijackings were reported across the country – resulting in a startling 14% increase from the previous period.
“The risk of high jackings is becoming greater,” says Patel. “But what if there was a way we could mitigate this risk using a platform that people already trust?”
A social media platform like Twitter offers a constant flow of real-time information. Using this stream of up-to-date data, it’s possible to visibly plot the occurrence of hijackings on a map, that can be used to inform other users, notify emergency responders and even help law enforcement create incident reports.
“The trick is knowing what Twitter data is relevant and what is simply a tweet. Aside from character limit, Twitter doesn’t have many restrictions – so it’s crucial that we put the right parameters in place to extract valid data,” he says.
To do this, Patel tested a combination of three machine learning techniques – Multilayer Feed-forward Neural Network (MLFNN), Convolutional Neural Network, and Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers – to separate the topic of ‘hijacking’ from actual, relevant incident reports on Twitter.
“The MLFNN technique achieved 98.99% accuracy in determining the validity of tweets as hijacking reports. This is an extremely encouraging result and proves that we can successfully use social media data to develop a map that indicates hijacking hotspots,” says Patel.
Today, Patel’s work is being turned into a mobile application that can be used to inform the general public of the dangers on the road. However, the opportunities for insights extracted from social media are endless.
Patel is one of 45 computer science and engineering graduates who are presenting at SATNAC 2022 – a parallel development to the Telkom Centres of Excellence (CoE) programme which provides a platform for future industry leaders to present their research to current industry giants.
Launched in 1997 and lauded as the largest coordinated research effort in ICT in South Africa, the CoE programme brings together academia, the telecommunications sector and government to foster the much-needed skills to grow this sector for the greater development of the country.
