Tata Rolls Out General Election Twitter Aggregator

IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has launched a smartphone app called ElectUK, which allows users to track, analyse and visualise Twitter conversations about the forthcoming general election.

TCS says ElectUK aims to engage voters, their representatives and political commentators by turning their smartphone into a big data social media analytics tool. Based on a database of more than two thousand parliamentary candidates, the app can be used to compare sentiment and trends, including the issues of highest importance in the debate.

The app uses data drawn directly from Twitter, and analyses millions of tweets about and from the political parties, candidates, and the electorate. This data is then run through the firm's PeriVista big data analytics software, and delivered to the app as a range of shareable graphics.

Shankar Narayanan, TCS Country Head, UK & Ireland, comments: 'ElectUK uses big data to give voters, politicians and commentators greater insight into the online conversations shaping the election debate, in an easy-to-consume, interactive and visual way. We hope the tool encourages UK voters to engage with the process. We've even included a button to help people register to vote, because we believe that digital technology can and should help bring about a more informed and engaged voter.'

Web site: www.tcs.com .