What is an IEPD?
An IEPD, or Information Exchange Package Documentation, is a specification for a data exchange and defines a particular data exchange. For example, there is an IEPD that defines the information content and structure for an Amber Alert, a bulletin or message sent by law enforcement agencies to announce the suspected abduction of a child.
It is a set of artifacts consisting of normative exchange specifications, examples, metadata, and documentation encapsulated by a catalog that describes each artifact. The entire package is archived as a single compressed file. When uncompressed, the catalog is a hyperlinked index into the IEPD and can be opened in a standard browser. The user may use the catalog to overview the IEPD contents or to open each individual artifact (provided the appropriate software required to open a given artifact is installed).
The artifacts in the NIEM IEPD specification are an extension of the work on IEPD guidelines done for the Global Justice XML Data Model, specifically Information Exchange Package Documentation Guidelines.
An IEPD itself is a specification for a data exchange and defines a particular data exchange. For example, there is an IEPD that defines the information content and structure for an Amber Alert, a bulletin or message sent by law enforcement agencies to announce the suspected abduction of a child.
