Karnataka Forest department launches HAWK to monitor criminal activities

The system has built-in analytical capabilities which will help officials to monitor wildlife crimes across Karnataka.

Digital services company NTT Data is supporting the development of HAWK. Information regarding wildlife crimes and other incidents from the field are fed into a centralised system so that effective and pre-emptive responses, including counteraction, can be initiated.

Subhash K Malkhede, IFS, PCCF (Wildlife) & Chief Wildlife Warden, Karnataka Forest Department said, “The HAWK system will help the department to manage and monitor data regarding forest and wildlife crime across the state in real-time. This will increase the overall efficiency of the department in crime management.”

Vivek Menon, Founder and Executive Director of Wildlife Trust of India said, “We initiated the development of HAWK as there are no such systems present in the country to manage information regarding wildlife crimes and criminal activities. We are grateful to NTT DATA for their support in bringing this visionary initiative to fruition.”

A team from the Karnataka Forest Department’s IT cell headed by Biswajit Mishra, Conservator of Forest, Head of the Information Communication & Technology Department ICT cell initiated the customisation process of HAWK approximately in 2022 to ensure that the migration from a manual system into a fully digital one is a smooth transition.

The state has already started the digitisation of legacy data into the new system which will help the department build various databases covering information about habitual offenders, locations, methods of hunting, etc.

At least five staff members of the forest department from each forest range in the state will be trained by an expert team to use the HAWK system and a technical team is in place to provide real-time assistance to the new users.

“Forest and wildlife crime is a major conservation challenge faced by the department. Migrating from the paper-based system into digital systems will help us greatly in countering criminal activities and is essential to keep our system updated to meet the new challenges including wildlife crime in cyberspace,” said Mishra.

The HAWK is already implemented in Kerala. Officials say it can improve the efficiency of the forest department by reducing the time taken for data entry and preparation of documents. It can analyse information and prepare graphs and maps and develop preventive plans.