Force agrees two-year licensing deal for Cosain ‘listening platform’ 

The technology acquired by South Yorkshire Police can reportedly “interrogate global open sources”  Credit: PA

South Yorkshire Police has picked Capita to fulfil a two-year contract to supply a “social media monitoring tool”.

The force is spending £55,000 on licensing for Cosain software, which was developed by Edinburgh-based analytics specialist Barrachd, a company aquired by Capita two years ago. The 24-month contract was awarded on 20 October and came into effect the following day.

Cosain is available through the Digital Marketplace, where it is described as a “cloud-based open-source listening platform”. The technology claims to offer a “single platform providing easy access to multiple information streams”. It enables users to “interrogate global open sources [within] search parameters set by the enquirer”, according to its service-definition document.

It costs between £770 and £1,000 for a single monthly licence.