Case Study: Institute for the Study of Violent Groups achieves real-time global violence insights with Tableau Software

ISVG examines real-time patterns of global violence

ISVG collects and analyzes open-source data on terrorism, extremism, and transnational crime using about 100 student researchers. Their challenge was a centralized, slow analysis process—only a few analysts could run queries and produce reports—while needing to provide timely, shareable intelligence to government clients and monitor student productivity cost-effectively.

By adopting Tableau and connecting it directly to their database, ISVG created live dashboards for event analysis and student performance, trained students to build reports, and shifted to a distributed analytics model. The result: turnaround dropped from weeks to a day, they now produce multiple reports weekly (about five), expanded analyses to campus and local police data, and freed staff time for training and broader collaboration.

Institute for the Study of Violent Groups

John Hitzeman

IT and Analysis Coordinator