PGP’s Monitoring Lab employs several commercially available media monitoring systems that collect and organize publicly available information sources.

These systems are complemented by other means of data collection such as platform-specific research tools. The Monitoring Lab processes billions of data points across text, image, video, and audio formats.

In addition to its uniquely large datasets, the Monitoring Lab has an uncommon staffing structure. Researchers within PGP’s Research Department manage the queries that collect references to topics of interest. These queries are complex, typically consisting of several hundred keywords arranged using Boolean operators (“and,” “or,” “not,” etc.). Queries are constructed through detailed literature reviews, subject matter expert interviews, and ongoing refinement once a monitoring profile is active. Profiles are routinely tested for accuracy. Journalists within PGP’s Editorial Department work closely with monitoring analysts to investigate narratives and study the spread of information. This data is contextualized into insight reports, alerts, and other communications for PGP’s partners and stakeholders.

PGP’s Monitoring Lab is able to detect emerging events and perform detailed investigations and analyses on topics that require weeks, months, or years of data to perform.