IPTC is creating an open source news classification engine. We have won a grant from Google DNI to create a rule-based engine and rules for at least two languages. We've worked up detailed requirements and are now moving onto implementation.

1. “Extra” by Jeremy Brooks https://flic.kr/p/4aKH3c

2. An Update on EXTRA
Stuart Myles * Associated Press * 24th October 2016
© 2016 IPTC (www.iptc.org) All rights reserved
https://flic.kr/p/HMQ514

3. EXTRA
EXTraction Rules Apparatus
Rules-based classification of text
Open source software
EXTRA is being developed by the IPTC
Grant from the Digital News Initiative
https://iptc.github.io/extra/
© 2016 IPTC (www.iptc.org) All rights reserved 3

4. Google DNI
• Google’s €150 million Digital News Initiative fund
– Stimulate innovation among European news organizations
– https://www.digitalnewsinitiative.com/fund/
• Multiple funding rounds
– First funding of €27 million to projects in 23 countries
– http://googlepolicyeurope.blogspot.gr/2016/02/digital-news-initiative-
first-funding_24.html
• IPTC’s EXTRA project funded in first round - October 2015
– Developer to create the engine ~ €35,000
– Linguists to develop sample rules ~ €14,000
– Marketing to promote the work ~ €1,000
– Total grant to IPTC from DNI = €50,000
© 2016 IPTC (www.iptc.org) All rights reserved

5. EXTRA
EXTraction Rules Apparatus
• Open source
– IPTC always uses open licenses – in this case, the MIT license
• Rules-based
– Better for breaking news than statistical methods
– More consistent and scalable than hand tagging
– Easier to explain why rules classify content
• Multilingual
– Developing rules for two IPTC Media Topics Languages
• News classification
– Rules will be developed using news content corpora
© 2016 IPTC (www.iptc.org) All rights reserved 5

6. EXTRA Requirements
Weekly teleconferences and emails to document requirements
https://iptc.org/events/
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/iptc-extra/info
https://goo.gl/EY4pMP
– Use Cases
– Performance
– Internationalization and Character Encoding
– Rule Language Operators and Functions
– Input and Output Formats
– Hit and miss highlighting
– Relevance
– Machine Learning
– Sample Rules
© 2016 IPTC (www.iptc.org) All rights reserved 6

7. Seeking Developers
Know anyone who might be qualified to develop EXTRA?
Send them our way
https://goo.gl/nUGrGT
Qualifications?
Proposed technical approach?
Particular frameworks/languages/tools?
© 2016 IPTC (www.iptc.org) All rights reserved 7

8. Apache UIMA Ruta
UIMA - Unstructured Information Management Applications
Ruta - Rules-Based Text Annotation – consists of two parts:
1. Analysis Engine for executing the rules
2. Eclipse-based rule-writing workbench
https://uima.apache.org/ruta.html
Has many – but not all – of the features we require for EXTRA
UIMA has a reputation for a steep learning curve
ASF License is slightly more restrictive than MIT License
© 2016 IPTC (www.iptc.org) All rights reserved 8

9. Rules and News
Securing news corpora in two+ Media Topics languages
• English from Thomson Reuters
• German from APA
• French from AFP
• English+ from Signal http://research.signalmedia.co/
• Agreeing on licensing remains the stumbling block
© 2016 IPTC (www.iptc.org) All rights reserved 9

10. How Can You Get Involved?
In order of increasing effort (and potential reward):
1. Join the (low frequency) email list to stay up-to-date
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/iptc-extra/info
2. Suggest to someone they should apply to develop EXTRA
https://goo.gl/nUGrGT
3. Read and comment on the requirements
https://goo.gl/EY4pMP
4. Join the weekly teleconferences
https://iptc.org/events/
© 2016 IPTC (www.iptc.org) All rights reserved 10

11. Date and Place of Next Meeting
London, UK 15 – 17 May 2017
https://flic.kr/p/suXCVH
Danke und auf wiedersehen!
© 2016 IPTC (www.iptc.org) All rights reserved 11