Objective

Our client needed a detailed and verifiable compilation of historical visual multimedia sources covering activities at a site in the Middle East.

Ridgeway’s brief

  • Support the client by drawing on our multimedia source expertise and surge capacity;

  • Audit and benchmark the client’s current in-house methodologies, demonstrating what Ridgeway could uncover that they could not and sharing our team’s insights into new trends, developments and limitations regarding open-source research and analysis.

Our approach

Our brief was focused on collecting and presenting primary sources rather than analysis and assessment. We therefore avoided making assumptions about what would be relevant to our client, focussing on delivering a transparent and detailed presentation of available information so our client could make an independent assessment.

We deployed researchers trained in open-source techniques alongside analysts skilled in Arabic and Russian, whose cultural perspective unearthed and exploited valuable information. Our thorough and intensive approach uncovered entirely new original sources for the client.

Key outcomes

Our team delivered:

  • A verified, complete portfolio of relevant open-source visual multimedia;

  • A full account of our approach and methodology to provide clarity and confidence in the quality, depth and range of our research.

  • A full account of our approaches to support the client in building their own in-house capabilities.

Ridgeway’s expertise in working with complex visual multimedia sources ensured the brief was fulfilled to a high standard.