To better connect experts, tools, initiatives, and services in the area of digital data, Europol has been called on to develop a knowledge-sharing platform – the “Novel Actionable Information” (NAI). This is the main outcome of the Council conclusions adopted at the JHA Council meeting on 7 June 2019. The conclusions tackle the problem of the steadily increasing volume of digital data, which have a major impact on criminal investigations by law enforcement authorities. This is why data analysis capacities must be strengthened across Europe and resources, people skills, organisational experience, and services better pooled. Therefore, the EU needs to develop tools that centralise structured knowledge exchange.

The new NAI platform is designed to support Member States and other relevant stakeholders, e.g., agencies, practitioners’ networks, etc. in order to:

• Share knowledge on how to conduct (criminal) analysis between law enforcement authorities across the EU;
• Design, update, and use procedures, methodologies, guidelines, manuals, and software programmes on handling digital data;
• Share lessons learned, best practices, and working scenarios involving digital data handling;
• Store applications, algorithms, or other software tools;
• Maintain an overview of relevant initiatives (actions, projects related to knowledge development) to facilitate prioritisation, avoiding duplication and optimising the use of resources.

The NAI platform can include practitioner’s competences, e-library capabilities, a toolbox platform, and ongoing or envisaged initiatives.

The Council conclusions also call upon Europol to “set up an Expert Working Group on Criminal Analysis with the objective of aligning standards of criminal analysis.” The Member States, agencies, and networks, CEPOL, Eurojust, and the Commission are all called upon to contribute to and support the NAI platform.