NIEMBridging Information Systems 
Case Study 
CONNECT 
NatioNal iNformatioN ExchaNgE modEl (NIEM) 
Synopsis 
The purpose of this case study is to highlight the results and 
application of NIEM to the Consortium for the Exchange of 
Criminal Justice Technology (CONNECT), an interstate criminal 
justice information sharing initiative led by the Alabama 
Criminal Justice Information Center (ACJIC). 
APPLYING NIEM TO INTERSTATE SHARING: 
CONSORTIUM FOR THE EXCHANGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (CONNECT) 
Executive Summary 
Challenge 
Numerous states have recently developed Web-based portals 
that allow criminal justice officials to search a wide variety of 
disparate data sets for information that can be used for both 
tactical and investigative purposes. However, these portals 
typically involve intrastate data sharing as opposed to interstate 
sharing. 
Solution 
The funds appropriated to ACJIC through the National Governors 
Association (NGA) and a subsequent allocation through 
the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) via a $379,000 Byrne 
Discretionary Grant for Facilitating Justice Information Sharing 
were used to (1) develop a business requirements document 
and arrive at consensus as to the optimal approach for moving 
forward for sharing portal data between states, (2) develop a 
system design and a development plan based on the consensus, 
(3) develop several rapid prototype components to provide 
proof of concept and generate immediate useable connectivity, 
and (4) ultimately use NIEM standards to define the set of 
standard data elements for exchange and develop NIEM 2.0-
conformant Information Exchange Package Documents (IEPDs) 
to transmit data for sharing with other states through CONNECT. 
Results 
Results through July 31, 2008, include the execution of 
an Interagency Agreement, development of a business 
requirements document, and the ultimate creation of three NIEM 
2.0-conformant IEPDs, including all required IEPD artifacts and 
publication to the www.niem.gov IEPD Clearinghouse for use 
by other states. These IEPDs include (1) a driver’s license query, 
(2) a driver’s license simple search and return, and (3) a detailed 
driver’s license return. The Interagency Agreement includes 
a statement of purpose, the scope of the project, individual 
responsibilities, and an outline for determining the data to be 
shared and the method for sharing. 
Agency Overview 
CONNECT is a consortium of five states that have agreed to 
pool their collective expertise to make interstate information 
sharing a reality. Project governance is provided by the 
CONNECT Leadership Team (Leadership Team), which consists 
of the following individuals: 
Maury Mitchell, Director, Alabama Criminal Justice 
Information Center 
Gordon Lansford, Director, Kansas Criminal Justice 
Information Center 
Michael Overton, Chief, Information Services Division, 
Nebraska Crime Commission 
Fausto Vega, ICJ Project Manager, Tennessee 
Administrative Office of Courts 
Kevin Smith, Deputy Director, Wyoming Division of 
Criminal Investigation, Wyoming Criminal Justice 
Information Section 
Although the administration of the project is centered in 
Alabama, prototyping will be effectively distributed among 
the states by the Leadership Team to ensure that the goals 
of CONNECT are best achieved; i.e., to provide the maximum 
connectivity and information sharing. 
ACJIC is a state agency that serves citizens by providing 
local, state, and federal criminal justice agencies with critical 
information. ACJIC is the central point of integration for the 
National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and Nlets—The 
International Justice and Public Safety Network—within 
Alabama. It is a resource for law enforcement agencies 
throughout the state for sharing both information and 
NIEMBridging Information Systems 
Case Study 
CONNECT 
NatioNal iNformatioN ExchaNgE modEl (NIEM) 
Synopsis 
The purpose of this case study is to highlight the results and 
application of NIEM to the Consortium for the Exchange of 
Criminal Justice Technology (CONNECT), an interstate criminal 
justice information sharing initiative led by the Alabama 
Criminal Justice Information Center (ACJIC). 
APPLYING NIEM TO INTERSTATE SHARING: 
CONSORTIUM FOR THE EXCHANGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (CONNECT) 
Executive Summary 
Challenge 
Numerous states have recently developed Web-based portals 
that allow criminal justice officials to search a wide variety of 
disparate data sets for information that can be used for both 
tactical and investigative purposes. However, these portals 
typically involve intrastate data sharing as opposed to interstate 
sharing. 
Solution 
The funds appropriated to ACJIC through the National Governors 
Association (NGA) and a subsequent allocation through 
the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) via a $379,000 Byrne 
Discretionary Grant for Facilitating Justice Information Sharing 
were used to (1) develop a business requirements document 
and arrive at consensus as to the optimal approach for moving 
forward for sharing portal data between states, (2) develop a 
system design and a development plan based on the consensus, 
(3) develop several rapid prototype components to provide 
proof of concept and generate immediate useable connectivity, 
and (4) ultimately use NIEM standards to define the set of 
standard data elements for exchange and develop NIEM 2.0-
conformant Information Exchange Package Documents (IEPDs) 
to transmit data for sharing with other states through CONNECT. 
Results 
Results through July 31, 2008, include the execution of 
an Interagency Agreement, development of a business 
requirements document, and the ultimate creation of three NIEM 
2.0-conformant IEPDs, including all required IEPD artifacts and 
publication to the www.niem.gov IEPD Clearinghouse for use 
by other states. These IEPDs include (1) a driver’s license query, 
(2) a driver’s license simple search and return, and (3) a detailed 
driver’s license return. The Interagency Agreement includes 
a statement of purpose, the scope of the project, individual 
responsibilities, and an outline for determining the data to be 
shared and the method for sharing. 
Agency Overview 
CONNECT is a consortium of five states that have agreed to 
pool their collective expertise to make interstate information 
sharing a reality. Project governance is provided by the 
CONNECT Leadership Team (Leadership Team), which consists 
of the following individuals: 
Maury Mitchell, Director, Alabama Criminal Justice 
Information Center 
Gordon Lansford, Director, Kansas Criminal Justice 
Information Center 
Michael Overton, Chief, Information Services Division, 
Nebraska Crime Commission 
Fausto Vega, ICJ Project Manager, Tennessee 
Administrative Office of Courts 
Kevin Smith, Deputy Director, Wyoming Division of 
Criminal Investigation, Wyoming Criminal Justice 
Information Section 
Although the administration of the project is centered in 
Alabama, prototyping will be effectively distributed among 
the states by the Leadership Team to ensure that the goals 
of CONNECT are best achieved; i.e., to provide the maximum 
connectivity and information sharing. 
ACJIC is a state agency that serves citizens by providing 
local, state, and federal criminal justice agencies with critical 
information. ACJIC is the central point of integration for the 
National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and Nlets—The 
International Justice and Public Safety Network—within 
Alabama. It is a resource for law enforcement agencies 
throughout the state for sharing both information and 

technology resources. Its responsibility extends to data 
collection and processing of incident, arrest, and other 
criminal justice information. ACJIC’s information sharing 
systems are designed to help law enforcement agencies make 
good decisions that result in the safety and security of citizens 
of Alabama. ACJIC also serves as the information technology 
and information sharing arm of the Alabama Department of 
Homeland Security and the Alabama Fusion Center. 

ACJIC has been a lead agency in the country in the area of 
public safety and homeland security information sharing, 
having been highly successful in developing a new Uniform 
Crime Report (UCR) processing system—the UCR Local 
Template for Reporting and Analysis (ULTRA)—and in the 
establishment of a virtual fusion center—Secure Homeland 
Access and Reporting Environment (SHARE). ACJIC also 
recently developed two NIEM 2.0-conformant XML exchanges 
and is prepared to test the electronic data transmission of 
Alabama’s incident/offense (IO) and arrest data to the FBI’s 
N-DEx repository. 

Challenge 

Numerous states have recently developed Web-based portals 
that allow criminal justice officials to search a wide variety of 
disparate data sets for information that can be used for both 
tactical and investigative purposes. Examples of databases 
being shared include driver’s licenses, drivers’ histories, 
vehicle registrations, corrections inmate records, probation/ 
parole status, community supervision status, warrants, 
protection orders, hunting/fishing license repositories, and 

“Alabama is proud of our 
participation in the CONNECT 
Project. The enhanced level of 
information available to law 
enforcement personnel resulting 
from this project will help protect 
the safety of citizens in Alabama and 
beyond.” 

—Becki Goggins, 
Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program Manager, 
ACJIC 



local jail records. While of great assistance to criminal justice 
and law enforcement officials within the state, the sharing 
of these capabilities across state lines has been limited to a 
few individuals who obtain the necessary access credentials. 
Unfortunately, terrorists and criminals do not operate in just 
one state, and those who are more sophisticated will take 
advantage of this obvious vulnerability. 

In 2006, CONNECT was organized to facilitate interstate 
sharing of criminal justice information. A $25,000 grant 
from NGA was used to fund two conferences to establish a 
partnership to enhance criminal justice, homeland security, 
and public protection through joint technology and 
information sharing among the CONNECT states. 

While much progress was made in establishing CONNECT, the 
project could not move forward without an effective system 
design and an implementation plan. These documents are 
essential, especially in a project that involves the integration 
of data access across several states, each with its own distinct 
data systems, security requirements, and search engines. 
To be effective, the design and planning documents must 
emanate from the stakeholders themselves. To accomplish 
this and ensure consensus, the process started with the 
establishment of an Interagency Agreement and development 
of a business requirements document. This enabled several 
alternative approaches to the operational aspects of CONNECT 
to be investigated and presented to the participating states to 
arrive at a consensus for the creation of the system design and 
development plan documents. 

The design concepts must be validated with working 
prototypes to the extent possible for two reasons: (1) to 
validate the design and development plans so that as the 


full-scale project moves forward, it is assuredly based on 
the most effective current information sharing technologies 
and (2) to “pick the low-hanging fruit” and generate as much 
connectivity as possible among participating states to build 
project momentum. This will provide proof of concept not only 
for search engine access but also for user authentication and all 
security issues. 
The documented design concepts will be validated by 
prototyping as many of the components as resources will 
allow. The selection of the components to prototype will be 
highly dependent on the impact potential and criticality of each 
component. Every attempt will be made to allocate prototype 
development resources in a way that will produce (1) an 
immediate benefit to the participating states and (2) a long-term 
proof of extensibility of the technology being employed. 
Solution 
The funds appropriated to ACJIC through the NGA and a 
subsequent allocation through BJA via a $379,000 Byrne 
Discretionary Grant for Facilitating Justice Information Sharing 
were used to (1) develop a business requirements document 
and arrive at consensus as to the optimal approach for moving 
forward for interstate data sharing, (2) develop a system design 
and a development plan based on the consensus, (3) develop 
several rapid prototype components both to provide proof of 
concept and generate immediate useable connectivity, and (4) 
ultimately use NIEM standards to define the set of standard data 
elements for exchange and to develop NIEM 2.0-conformant 
Information Exchange Package Documents (IEPDs) and transmit 
data for sharing with other states through CONNECT. IEPDs 
were developed using IEPDs and other artifacts created by 
other states with input from subject-matter experts and using 
established methodology, including UML Modeling, NIEM 
Contributor Mapping Documentation, sample XML Schema, and 
development and validation of XML (using Visual Studio and 
XML Spy). 
Results 
Results through July 31, 2008, include the execution of an 
Interagency Agreement, development of a business requirements 
document, agreement on security standards and network 
architecture, and creation of three NIEM 2.0-conformant IEPDs, 
including all required IEPD artifacts and publication to the 
U.S. Department of Justice IEPD Clearinghouse for use by other 
states. These IEPDs include (1) a driver’s license query, (2) a driver’s 
license simple search and return, and (3) a detailed driver’s license 
return. The Interagency Agreement includes a statement of 
purpose, the scope of the project, individual responsibilities, and an 
outline for determining the data to be shared and the method for 
sharing it. 
Other accomplishments to date include, but are not limited to, 
the following: 
The selection of Analysts International as the consulting 
contractor to work in conjunction with the project team. 
Development of relevant documentation of all CONNECT 
state portals to determine relevant aspects regarding 
functionality and data availability. 
Completed research of similar efforts to CONNECT (e.g., 
State, Regional and Federal Enterprise Retrieval System 
[SRFERS] on the West Coast and the Nlets Interstate Sharing 
of Photos [NISP] pilot project on the East Coast) to compile 
information and lessons learned. 
Increased awareness of NIEM and other national standards 
(e.g., Global Federated Identity and Privilege Management) 
by representatives from all involved states. 
Three successful consensus conferences to reach agreement 
involving this project. 
State surveys to gather background necessary for the 
documentation of the business requirements. 
Completed research and documented alternative 
implementation approaches regarding tools and services. 
A CONNECT development plan. 
Participating Agencies 
full-scale project moves forward, it is assuredly based on 
the most effective current information sharing technologies 
and (2) to “pick the low-hanging fruit” and generate as much 
connectivity as possible among participating states to build 
project momentum. This will provide proof of concept not only 
for search engine access but also for user authentication and all 
security issues. 
The documented design concepts will be validated by 
prototyping as many of the components as resources will 
allow. The selection of the components to prototype will be 
highly dependent on the impact potential and criticality of each 
component. Every attempt will be made to allocate prototype 
development resources in a way that will produce (1) an 
immediate benefit to the participating states and (2) a long-term 
proof of extensibility of the technology being employed. 
Solution 
The funds appropriated to ACJIC through the NGA and a 
subsequent allocation through BJA via a $379,000 Byrne 
Discretionary Grant for Facilitating Justice Information Sharing 
were used to (1) develop a business requirements document 
and arrive at consensus as to the optimal approach for moving 
forward for interstate data sharing, (2) develop a system design 
and a development plan based on the consensus, (3) develop 
several rapid prototype components both to provide proof of 
concept and generate immediate useable connectivity, and (4) 
ultimately use NIEM standards to define the set of standard data 
elements for exchange and to develop NIEM 2.0-conformant 
Information Exchange Package Documents (IEPDs) and transmit 
data for sharing with other states through CONNECT. IEPDs 
were developed using IEPDs and other artifacts created by 
other states with input from subject-matter experts and using 
established methodology, including UML Modeling, NIEM 
Contributor Mapping Documentation, sample XML Schema, and 
development and validation of XML (using Visual Studio and 
XML Spy). 
Results 
Results through July 31, 2008, include the execution of an 
Interagency Agreement, development of a business requirements 
document, agreement on security standards and network 
architecture, and creation of three NIEM 2.0-conformant IEPDs, 
including all required IEPD artifacts and publication to the 
U.S. Department of Justice IEPD Clearinghouse for use by other 
states. These IEPDs include (1) a driver’s license query, (2) a driver’s 
license simple search and return, and (3) a detailed driver’s license 
return. The Interagency Agreement includes a statement of 
purpose, the scope of the project, individual responsibilities, and an 
outline for determining the data to be shared and the method for 
sharing it. 
Other accomplishments to date include, but are not limited to, 
the following: 
The selection of Analysts International as the consulting 
contractor to work in conjunction with the project team. 
Development of relevant documentation of all CONNECT 
state portals to determine relevant aspects regarding 
functionality and data availability. 
Completed research of similar efforts to CONNECT (e.g., 
State, Regional and Federal Enterprise Retrieval System 
[SRFERS] on the West Coast and the Nlets Interstate Sharing 
of Photos [NISP] pilot project on the East Coast) to compile 
information and lessons learned. 
Increased awareness of NIEM and other national standards 
(e.g., Global Federated Identity and Privilege Management) 
by representatives from all involved states. 
Three successful consensus conferences to reach agreement 
involving this project. 
State surveys to gather background necessary for the 
documentation of the business requirements. 
Completed research and documented alternative 
implementation approaches regarding tools and services. 
A CONNECT development plan. 
Participating Agencies 
www.acjic.alabama.gov 
www.accesskansas.org/kbi 
www.ncc.state.ne.us 
www.tsc.state.tn.us 
attorneygeneral.state.wy.us/dci 
Issued 11/08 This project was supported by Grant No. 2007-NC-BX-K001 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in collaboration 
with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a 
component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, 
the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions in this 
document are those of the author and do not represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. www.NiEm.gov