The Child Exploitation Tracking System (CETS) software will help the AFP better share intelligence with other police forces both in Australia and overseas.

To be officially launched in Canberra later today, the software has been developed by Microsoft to address the cross-border nature of online child abuse. It will allow the AFP to collate all information on individuals under investigation in Australia as well as finding details relevant to them in other countries.

Police forces around the world currently struggle with the amount of information they need to process when investigating internet-based crimes. Because that information is often stored in multiple locations by multiple organisations, the task is made even more difficult.

“With so much information and data to process, connecting the dots is a difficult job,” Microsoft senior vice president Brad Smith said in a statement ahead of the official launch.

“Imagine trying to connect those dots across different cities, states, countries and law enforcement agencies – CETS was developed to tackle this very issue.”

The CETS system is already operational in eight countries around the world including the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Romania, Indonesia, Chile, Brazil and Canada.

According to officials, in the UK alone it has already been credited with helping to make 240 arrests and has helped to dismantle three paedophile rings.