National Information Exchange Model (NIEM)

And,Where to Start with Information Sharing

Jim Pingel, NIEM Business Architecture Committee

Manager

Director,

Wisconsin Justice Information Sharing

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Information sharing is a national imperative

In detecting, preventing, responding to and investigating crimes, disasters and terrorist acts, the exchange of information among multiple engaged agencies must be timely and accurate and therefore highly automated.

Most existing computer systems are not designed to facilitate information sharing across disciplines and jurisdictions.

Automated information sharing between agencies requires the definition of common standards for linking disparate systems among federal, state, local and tribal agencies.

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Foundation of Info Sharing

Information Sharing

and Other Legal Rights

Protecting Privacy

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Information Sharing: The Big (Simplified) Picture

Dispatched LE

Fusion CenterFusion Center

4) The Payload: NIEM-conformant Exchange

3) The Envelope: Addressingand Policy

NIEM is a data layer standard, addressing one essential component of the information sharing architecture. But it all starts with real-world business needs to share information!

2) SecureConnections

1) BusinessDrivers

The shared business needs, and collaborative partnerships are where voice interoperability and data-sharing must converge!

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NIEM at 50,000 Feet

People

Person Organization

Places

Location

Things

Property Contact Info

MetaData

Events

Activity

InternationalTrade

Immigration

PersonScreening

InfrastructureProtection

Justice (GJXML)

EmergencyManagement

Intelligence

NIEM CoreThere are Currently

seven NIEM Domains

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Supporting Operations at the Local, State, Tribal and Federal levels

• Exchanges using a national standard are making it easier to:

– Forward incident and arrest data from police to prosecutors

– Determine the status of beds, staff, and resources at hospitals

– Send call data from a 9-1-1 center to multiple dispatch centers

– Report suspicious activities from field officers to investigators at state and national levels and from one fusion center to another

– Provide a common operational picture across multiple agencies and Jurisdictions

– Locate critical government and private sector resources in response to a F5 Tornado

– Report the status of emergency response teams and resources

– Screen persons or cargo entering the country

– Broadcast an Amber Alert

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IEPD: A Collaborative, Business-Driven Process• Create a scenario to reflect

the need for information sharing between organizations

• Define the requirements including the data components that should be included

• Use the data component standards from NIEM to build the exchange, extending them where needed

• Document the exchange using technology standards

• Implement the exchange

• Register the IEPD in the GJXDM/NIEM IEPD Clearinghouse

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The IEPD Clearinghouse

www.niem.gov/tools - click “Search for IEPD”

Over 70 NIEM IEPDs – and Counting.

NDEX Specifications

Law Enforcement IT Standards Council:

10 Standard CAD-RMS Exchanges

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WIJIS – Wisconsin Justice Information Sharing

WIJIS – Wisconsin Justice Information Sharing

Gaps Remain in Seamless, Secure Information Sharing.

IntegratedCorrections

Hot Files

Local Law EnforcementRecords Management Systems Courts

DA-PROTECT

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Filling in the Gaps: The WIJIS Justice GatewayFilling in the Gaps: The WIJIS Justice Gateway

A single, secure point of read-only access to disparate state and local justice information resources.

DA-PROTECT

Courts

IntegratedCorrections

TIME/eTIME

Law EnforcementData

Law EnforcementData

Local Law EnforcementRecords Management Systems

Vehicle Reg DNR

Sex Offender Reg

NIEM

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Where to Begin

• Identify the Business Drivers– Expanded Search Capability (Horizontal)– Criminal Justice Workflow (Vertical)– “We Got This Grant…”

• Lead Agency/Champion– CJIS Agency (AL, PA, NY State, MN)– Dept of Public Safety (FL, TX)– Admin Office of Courts (CA, MO, NM, …IN?)– State Administering Agency (WI)– Fusion Center (AZ, MA, NJ)– EOC (IN?)

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Where to Begin

• Look for quick wins• Engage Stakeholders– Find your early adopters– Focus on the ones that are willing! The resistors will

come along, when they see the value.

• Communicate – early and often– Indiana has a great start!

• Leverage, Reuse… You know… STEAL.– N-Dex– IEPD Clearinghouse

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Keys to Success

• Governance– Representative, yet Nimble– Leverage IPSC Collaboration!– Plug into the Associations (Chiefs, Sheriffs, DAs, APCO)– Technical, Business and Executive Involvement

(committee structure)

• Understand National Initiatives (N-Dex, Fusion, SAR, etc.). – What’s the Payoff for You? – Alignment with State Objectives.

• Identify, Leverage and Train Technical Resources

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All You Need to Know About the Technology

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All You Need to Know About the Technology• Flexible, Expandable Technology

– Service-Oriented Architecture– Secure Internet– National Standards like NIEM

• Your technologists must be able to simplify, make the technology easy to understand for local implementers

• Developer’s Toolkit!

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May 2008

NIEM Support Infrastructure

• www.NIEM.gov provides outreach briefings and seminars, documentation, training, tools, Knowledge Center and Helpdesk, and technical assistance

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NIEM Grant Language

“To support public safety and justice information sharing, OJP requires the grantee to use the National Information Exchange Model specifications and guidelines for this particular grant. Grantee shall publish and make available without restriction all Information Exchange Package Documentation (IEPDs) and related artifacts generated as a result of this grant to the component registry as specified in the guidelines. This information is available at http://www.niem.gov/implementationguide.php.”

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NIEM Value Proposition

• Agencies and organizations that adopt NIEM will be able to:

– Gain faster access to critical information

– Reduce cost of automated information exchanges

– Leverage existing systems

– Participate in regional, state, and national information sharing systems that are or will be based on NIEM standards

– Participate in and contribute to shaping national standards for information sharing

– Contribute to helping solve the national information sharing problem

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NIEM State and Local Adoption and Use

• Majority of states are engaging NIEM through pilot projects and operational developments

• A few examples:– California Administrative Office of the Courts project to develop and publish a library

of NIEM IEPD’s

– Florida Law Enforcement eXchange (FLEX) system includes development of a NIEM compliant data model and IEPDs

– New York Division of Criminal Justice Services utilizing NIEM to implement all CJIS information exchanges – eJustice Portal

– Pennsylvania’s JNET project developing a plan for upgrading GJXDM based information exchanges to NIEM

– “Texas Path to NIEM” project developing a blueprint for Texas state and local agencies to cooperatively reach NIEM compliance

– Consortium for the Exchange of Criminal-Justice Technology (CONNECT) multi-state NIEM-based project (AL, KS, NB, TN WY)

– Wisconsin has a statewide Justice Gateway for sharing critical incident and case data.

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Next Steps?

• Re-Orient IPSC on Data-Sharing– Business Drivers– Policy Constraints– Technical and Managerial Supporters

• Architecture: The Big Picture of how it all fits together• Request (FREE) Technical Assistance:

nisshelp@ijis.org– Did I mention it’s FREE?!!!

• Get your Technicians to NIEM Training: training@ijis.org– That’s free, too

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NIEM References and Links

• NIEM Public Website - www.niem.gov

– Request FREE Training and Technical Assistance– Subscribe to NIEM News - E-mail information@niem.gov

– Search the IEPD Clearinghouse– Download Documents– Access Free Tools

• Join Justice Information Sharing Practitioners –jispnet.org– Network with your peers– Access policies, RFPs, other templates

• National Information Sharing Standards (NISS) Helpdesk and Knowledge Center– www.it.ojp.gov/NISS/helpdesk– E-mail nisshelp@ijis.org– Call 1-877-333-5111 or 1-703-726-1919, 9AM-8PM (EST)

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Questions?