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Subcommittee Governance

Subcommittee governance is an important aspect of overall NIEM governance.

 


Stewardship

All NIEM subcommittees are led by a subcommittee steward that is responsible for the subcommittee’s model content, governance, and maintenance. A subcommittee steward may collaboratively work with a team of volunteer subject matter experts that collectively represent any involved Communities of Interest (COIs). Stewards and, if applicable, governance committees, manage their subcommittee and bring together domain stakeholders to identify information exchange business requirements.


Content Management

Individual subcommittee's manage their portion of the NIEM model and work with other NIEM subcommittee's to collaboratively identify areas of overlapping interest (known as the harmonization process). As subcommittee stakeholders develop and implement NIEM-based exchanges they provide new or updated information exchange requirements to the subcommittee steward. Content updates can happen at any time, and are then incorporated into the next NIEM release (major or minor) for reconciliation and official publication.


Community Participation

The use of NIEM accelerates collaboration in and across communities. Subcommittee's typically consist of participants and end users across federal, state, local, tribal, international, and industry organizations. These members may take part in subcommittee-specific working groups to resolve issues pertinent to their community. Subcommittee's also participate in broader-scale NIEM committees, such as the NIEM Business Architecture Committee (NBAC), the NIEM Technical Architecture Committee (NTAC), and the NIEM Management Office (NMO).


Governance

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to subcommittee governance. Each subcommittee represents a broad and, at times, diverse group of individuals and organizations. Subcommittee governance should be tailored to address these stakeholders.

However, there are several activities that are part of governance that are applicable to all. For example, fair and adequate representation, dispute resolution, and continuous communication between all stakeholders are important for community success. Also, to ensure that they remain independent and self-sustaining, established NIEM subcommittees may create and maintain a governing document, such as a charter, that outlines roles and responsibilities, organizational structure, dispute resolution frameworks, and a management plan that details the activities of the subcommittee.

Example: The Biometrics subcommittee

The Biometrics subcommittee provides an excellent example of how to formalize subcommittee governance. The governance framework below illustrates how the Biometrics subcommittee serves the needs of the Biometrics community.

Picture of the governance framework for the Biometrics domain. The Biometrics domain is organized under a formal charter, which includes organizational and dispute resolution frameworks. The domain operates under the stewardship of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Identity Management (OBIM) and has an Executive Management Committee. The domain chair is aligned to the domain steward organization. The roles of Vice Chair and Ombudsman are filled by key domain stakeholders with the Vice Chair being from the Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Ombudsman from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Ombudsman acts in an advisory capacity and serves as final voice for technical issues. NIST, as the owner of the ANSI/NIST ITL Biometrics Standard, which is utilized by the entire biometrics community, is ideally suited for this role. The conflict resolution frameworks utilized by the domain are aligned to those used by NIST. The Biometrics domain consists of participants and end users from across federal, state, local, tribal, international, and industry organizations. These members participate in domain specific working groups to resolve issues pertinent to the biometrics community. In addition, several members actively participate in NIEM committees and working groups, including the NIEM Business Architecture Committee (NBAC). All stakeholders are updated on a regular basis as to ongoing and planned domain activities.

Another example: The Children, Youth, and Family Services (CYFS) subcommittee

The NIEM Children, Youth, and Family Services (CYFS) subcommittee supports timely, complete, accurate, and efficient information sharing to improve outcomes for children and youth whose circumstances make them particularly vulnerable.

The subcommittee brings together communities of interest to identify information exchange business requirements.

The CYFS communities of interest include but are not limited to: Juvenile Justice, Child Welfare, Child Support Enforcement, and Courts. End users across the communities develop and implement NIEM-based exchanges and provide new or updated information exchange requirements to the domain governance committee.

The subcommittee governance committee determines who represents the subcommittee on the NBAC.

Picture of the governance framework for the Children, Youth, and Family Services (CFYS) domain. Within the CYFS domain, there is a governance committee. This committee stewards the domain and brings together communities of interest to identify information exchange business requirements. The CYFS communities of interest include but are not limited to: Juvenile Justice, Child Welfare, Child Support Enforcement, and Courts. End users across the communities develop and implement NIEM-based exchanges and provide new or updated information exchange requirements to the domain governance committee. The domain governance committee determines who represents the domain on the NBAC.


Looking to get involved?

Learn more about the communities that leverage NIEM.