A cognitive approach to improving the quality of the customs authorities' analytic activities

Subject. The article considers prospects for enhancing the quality of analytical activities of the Customs authorities through a cognitive approach implementation. Objectives. The aim is to formulate promising areas for improving the quality of analytical work of the Customs authorities by using a cognitive approach, to develop a concept for managing the analytical activities based on knowledge. Methods. The study rests on systems methodology and institutional theory. It also employs cognitive modeling techniques. Results. We show the process of transferring disparate data into knowledge, consider basic methods of big data processing, and identify the most acceptable method of customs data analysis. The paper discloses the contents and elements of the cognitive approach in analytical activities of on-line monitoring centers and describes an experiment with the application of data mining technology on the basis of the Federal Customs Service of Russia. We recommend the said approach to analytical and ICT units of organizations operating in the field of customs services. Conclusions. Current trends in software development, the use of electronic forms of customs documents, and continuously expanded list of analytical tools for big data processing entail the need for changing traditional approaches to information analysis to assess customs risks. The expert method should be supplemented with new, previously unused decision support tools, such as tools that enable automated big data analysis.