NIEM Newsletter
NIEM 2.0 Release Notes
The NIEM 2.0 Release Candidate 1 was driven by practitioner requirements through a collaborative process between local, state, and federal stakeholders. The following narratives summarize how the Program Management Office (PMO), NIEM Business Architecture Committee (NBAC), NIEM Technical Architecture Committee (NTAC), practitioners, and stakeholders cooperated and applied NIEM governance processes and tools to integrate significant improvements into the NIEM 2.0 release.
NIEM 1.0 consisted of a Core set of data components that are split across two namespaces, Universal and Common. The primary reasons for establishing two Core namespaces were to facilitate governance and to distinguish the identities of Universal components (intersection of all domains) and Common components (intersection of two or more domains). Practitioner experience in building Information Exchange Package Documentation (IEPD) using NIEM 1.0 indicated data representation problems when Core data objects must be split across two namespaces because IEPD developers were confused as to why certain data objects (such as person, location, and activity) were represented in both the Universal and Common namespaces. IEPD efforts were forced to extend split components in complex ways to compensate for constraints imposed by predetermined specializations across Core namespaces. The issues were documented in the NIEM Configuration Control Tool (NCCT) and subsequently discussed in both NBAC and NTAC meetings. Careful analysis and discussion continued for a period of six months. During that time, alternative approaches were identified and the advantages and disadvantages of each were presented for committee review. Both the NBAC and NTAC voted and decided that from a user’s point of view, the NIEM Core should become one namespace to simplify the model; however, from a governance point of view there was a need to continue to track usage of Universal components versus Common components. Therefore, the distinction would be maintained through metadata. Associated NIEM tools will also be updated to employ this metadata for search and discovery of components and for generation of schemas. This decision was implemented in the NIEM 2.0 release.
A number of data components (such as address, location, facility, and measurements) were also improved within the model. This was done for a variety of reasons, including removing duplication, reducing complexity, facilitating reuse, and establishing consistency. One example involves the revision of similar components, such as Facility, Structure, and Building. Again, IEPD work indicated that some degree of duplication existed among these objects and that users often confused them. The NBAC identified the similarities and differences across these objects and documented the issues in the NCCT. A number of alternative models were developed and presented for group review, and after discussion and further revisions, the NBAC adopted a single component for the generic object, Facility. This object consolidates the characteristics and structure of all three, and it is also specialized in the Justice domain to represent a Correctional Facility. This decision was implemented in NIEM 2.0.
The two foregoing examples illustrate the harmonization of concepts and objects in NIEM Core. However, some data objects from NIEM domains also required harmonization. Several domains had requirements for representing a Passport, and each had a slightly different perspective of this object. In this case, a separate team of domain experts under NBAC oversight worked closely with the developers to build a single common Passport object acceptable to the interested domains. This object was integrated into the NIEM 2.0 Core and can be augmented or specialized by domains as required. Other versions of Passport were removed from NIEM 2.0. A similar sequence of activities occurred to establish a single Encounter object for the Immigration and Person Screening domains. This process clearly demonstrated the value of the NIEM program in bringing together different communities of interest to work collaboratively on a common goal to the benefit of everyone involved.
NIEM processes and governance have also been responsive to national priority exchanges, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Data Exchange (N-DEx) project. Development of a new N-DEx IEPD began last year using NIEM 1.0. As a result of requirements identified through this IEPD effort, a number of data components were created using NIEM extension techniques because they are not available in NIEM 1.0. Furthermore, a small list of data component discrepancies and shortfalls was also assembled and entered into the NCCT. Both new components and shortfalls in existing components accounted for approximately 30 issues. These issues were summarized and solutions were proposed to either NTAC or NBAC, as appropriate. Of the 30 issues, all but two have been implemented as revisions or new components in NIEM 2.0.
The examples above illustrate a small number of the many revisions and improvements that are embodied in the NIEM 2.0 release. The following is a high-level (not exhaustive) listing of other significant modifications that went into the new release.
- Remodeled the following types:
- Measure
- Location: Address, Latitude/Longitude, geographic coordinates
- Date, Time
- Facility, Correctional Facility (Structure removed)
- Entity (Person or Organization)
- ContactInformation
- Telephone number (based on very recent discussion and feedback)
- Revised a large number of definitions
- Inserted standard definition formats, such as type, abstract, augmentation, and role, into Core definitions
- Added key words to new key word field to facilitate component discovery
- Added example descriptions to new usage field
- Added typical examples to new example field
- Conducted a full review of all data elements to conform with the Naming and Design Rules as well as International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 11179 naming conventions
- Namespace adjustments:
- Moved components to and from Universal, Common, and domains
- Justice namespace replaced with Global Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM) 4.0
- Geospatial namespace prefix replaced with geo:
- Reviewed and differentiated between various types of IDs, including ID (numeric only) and IdentificationType (containing metadata)
- Added new Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) representation term and URIType
- Integrated GJXDM 3.1b (Added Activity and Property is now Item)
- Integrated ~30 resolved NBAC/NTAC NCCT issues
- Inserted American National Standards Institute (ANSI) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Biometric standard in new namespace
- Removed duplicate components from Core
- Applied additional 50+ adjustments requested by FBI
- More thorough integration with Core planned for next release
- Reintegrated domains to new Core
- Replaced inappropriate specializations with augmentations
- Repaired applied augmentations
- Added support for new code lists and types:
- U.S. Department of Transportation: Hazmat
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives: explosives
- U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency: drugs
- National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA): horizontal datums (for geographical coordinates)
- Updated existing code lists:
- Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 10-4 country codes (from latest NGA updates)
- ISO 639-3 language codes
- ISO 3166 country codes
- National Crime Information Center (NCIC) technical and operational update (TOU) 06-2 (latest update available)
- Use United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) Rec 20 common codes (vice symbols) for units of measure
- Integrated 26 FBI N-DEx issues
- Remodeled Encounter type for Immigration and Person Screening domains
- Updated and repaired Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) component definitions
- Fixed a number of NIEM technical concerns from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)
- Added new components and code lists for Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR)
- Remodeled Passport and integrated with Core for SAR and People Screening IEPDs
- Updated NIEM to use Intelligence Community Information Security Marking
Harmony Release Schedule
The Harmony Release Candidate 1, posted to NIEM.gov on Monday, June 4, 2007, is available for use and comment. A link to an errata file associated with the release is also provided. The file at this link will be updated as errors and issues are discovered. In the middle of June 2007, Release Candidate 2, incorporating corrections to identified errors, will be posted to NIEM.gov. Depending on stakeholder feedback to the Release Candidate 2 release, the 2.0 Production Release will be generated and posted. The 2.0 Production Release is considered to be the stable release and falls under the standard NIEM configuration management processes.
The NIEM tools update (new features and enhanced support features) will be released in mid- to late June 2007.
Please continue registering your IEPDs at www.it.ojp.gov/iepd so that others will be aware of your work. This will foster opportunities for collaboration and leverage the expertise of other organizations as well as help you to avoid duplicating efforts. Please visit www.niem.gov for the most current information about NIEM.
The Business Value of NIEM
Effective information sharing is essential for the prevention of and response to incidents that threaten the safety and security of U.S. citizens. There are many documented cases in which an event’s impact might have been reduced or even averted if the right information had been readily accessible to the right people. Fixing the problem is essential for government stakeholders who operate with legacy technology, terminology, and formats.
The challenge is clear: how do we cost-effectively build a bridge between these computer systems to better share information for the improved public good?
The National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) is designed to help government stakeholders to address this problem. NIEM accomplishes this task by defining a common information sharing language, specifying standards for its use, and providing blueprints to exchange data between government systems. In so doing, NIEM creates the standards-based environment for diverse communities to share information of common interest.
NIEM Presentations
To view updated PowerPoint presentations about NIEM, please visit the following unpublished site: http://www.niem.gov/ppt/presentations.php. Here you will find three NIEM presentations that offer information about NIEM. NIEM Governance describes the NIEM governance structure, how NIEM committees interact to build the national model, and the steps in creating an information exchange. The NIEM Executive Introduction provides an overview of NIEM, including NIEM background, history, governance, and organizational structure; examples of how NIEM works; cost savings using NIEM; NIEM adoption; NIEM business value; and lessons learned. The NIEM Executive Introduction (Short) is a condensed version of the NIEM Executive Introduction. We are happy to provide these presentations to you for your use.
Upcoming Events: NIEM Train the Trainer
June 13–14, 2007
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), is offering a training program for trainers and potential trainers of the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) courses. This event offers a two-day course—the first day is NIEM training and the second day offers training techniques. The course will be designed to help new trainers learn how to teach the NIEM curriculum. It will also provide existing trainers with the opportunity to refresh their training methods and learn about the current NIEM curriculum. A basic knowledge of NIEM is required. It is preferable, but not required, to have attended either a Global Justice Extensible Markup Language Data Model (GJXDM) or NIEM training class. For further information or questions about the NIEM Train-the-Trainer course, please contact Samantha Styles at (703) 726-3697 or visit http://it.ojp.gov/documents/NIEM_train_the_trainer.pdf.