Guidance for Grantees

August 2011—Most recently, NIEM has been successful in obtaining a NIEM supplemental grants guide for U.S. Department of Homeland Security FY11 grants. The resource document outlines all the great ways state and locals can use grant funds for NIEM including planning and exchange development, governance, communications, training, travel, and purchase of software/tools to ease development.

The Implementation Guide for Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice provides the rules for NIEM conformance for BJA grantees.

Background

Definition of NIEM

A national program supported by the federal government, NIEM connects communities of people who share a common need to exchange information in order to advance their missions.

Instead of seeking nationwide integration of all federal, state, local, and tribal information systems, NIEM focuses on information exchange across multiple levels of government. In this way, NIEM breaks down interagency stovepipes and creates the opportunity for agencies to share information quickly and effectively without rebuilding systems. All 50 states use NIEM in some capacity and at differing levels of maturity.

NIEM is not:

A standard. NIEM enables the creation of standards.
The actual exchange of information. NIEM describes the data that is in motion in that exchange.
A database. NIEM does not store information.
Software.
Just for law enforcement and justice. Twelve domains (or industry verticals) including health and human services and agriculture, participate in NIEM, and that number is growing.
Strictly for federal government. NIEM is used by all 50 states as well as local and tribal government and private industry.
Intrusive to existing systems. NIEM allows organizations to move information quickly and effectively without rebuilding systems.

Rather, NIEM is a way of exchanging information that comprises two major components:

A data dictionary of more than 5,000 accepted terms that are commonly used in an information exchange.
A repeatable, reusable process for developing information exchange requirements.

NIEM's Benefits
NIEM provides quicker access to and better understanding of data that crosses system, agency, and jurisdictional borders. This accessibility to data strengthens communication between agencies by improving transparency, data quality, and accountability.

NIEM also improves decision-making and provides greater agility and efficiency in satisfying business needs and implementing repeatable processes. By providing a common, agreed-upon, and mature development process for defining and implementing data exchanges between systems, NIEM supports reuse, ultimately resulting in reduced costs and increased operational efficiency.

IEPDs

The resulting work product of a data exchange is an Information Exchange Package Documentation, or IEPD. An IEPD is a set of artifacts that define a particular data exchange.

The process of creating an IEPD is outlined below in the IEPD Lifecycle section.

Information Exchange

NIEM does not influence how an information exchange is developed or implemented outside the scope of the structure of the message, nor does it attempt to influence how data is maintained. It only addresses data in motion, as demonstrated in the diagram below. NIEM sits in the middle of the information exchange and manages only the message within the information exchange. NIEM serves as the common language and structure for XML messages within the information exchange. NIEM intentionally does not address standardizing data inside legacy systems. Figure out illustrates how NIEM serves as a translation layer (providing a common understanding) between and across disparate systems.

Figure 1: Standardizing Data Moving Across Systems

There are two main components that represent how NIEM is structured, and these are outlined below in the Domain Management Model or "petal" diagram (Figure 2) and the IEPD "fish hook" Lifecycle diagram (Figure 3).

Figure 2: Domain Management Model

Domain Management

A domain is a business enterprise that broadly reflects the agencies, units of government, operational functions, services, and information systems that are organized or affiliated to meet common objectives. Each domain traditionally includes a cohesive group of domain stewards who are subject-matter experts (SMEs) and include representatives from all levels of government. Domain stewards govern domains through a self-service stewardship model. The NIEM community is evolving and as needed, new domains are added to the NIEM infrastructure.

IEPD Lifecycle

The IEPD Lifecycle defines the steps required to develop an IEPD. The IEPD Lifecycle consists of six major phases, including the following:

Scenario Planning-Enables the identification of scenarios requiring exchange of information, business requirements, and business context.
Analyze Requirements-Defines the business and data requirements associated with an information exchange for which NIEM is being used.
Figure 3: IEPD Lifecycle Diagram
Map and Model-Comprises activities focused on creating the business process and sequence diagrams and mapping the model to the NIEM model.
Build and Validate-Creates a set of NIEM-conformant XML schemas that implement the document structure identified in the Scenario Planning, Analyze Requirements, and Map and Model lifecycle phases.
Assemble and Document-Assembles all artifacts of the IEPD and completes any remaining documentation.
Publish and Implement-Publishes the IEPD and uses it in a production mode.

Governance and Communications

In addition to management of the domains themselves, the NIEM infrastructure consists of many committees and groups. The NIEM Governing Structure refers to the decision-making structure and authority to support initial development, continuing operations, and the future evolution of NIEM. The following groups make up the NIEM Governing Structure:

Executive Steering Council (ESC) provides executive leadership and direction to parties associated with NIEM. The ESC also advocates for NIEM in federal, local, and state entities and assists the NIEM Program Management Office (PMO) in securing funding and resolving policy issues. Establishing national priority exchanges is another important concept of the ESC authority. The ESC, with representatives from many organizations, helps the PMO facilitate the management and NIEM's day-to-day operations. The ESC consists of key domain representatives and authoritative stakeholders.
NIEM Program Management Office (NIEM PMO) executes the vision of NIEM established by the ESC, while managing the day-to-day operations of NIEM. The NIEM PMO encourages the adoption and use of NIEM and manages all working group and committee activities. The NIEM PMO coordinates with communities of interest (COIs), principal stakeholders, and other information sharing initiatives to promote collaboration and interest in NIEM priorities.
NIEM Communications and Outreach Committee (NC&OC) ensures that information regarding NIEM is consistently and effectively communicated to key decision makers. The NC&OC serves as the central point of contact for users, developers, and those interested in learning more about NIEM through communication channels and audience-specific messages tailored to the strategic directions established by the ESC and the NIEM PMO.
NIEM Business Architecture Committee (NBAC) advises and supports the NIEM PMO on operational and business issues associated with NIEM development and implementation. The NBAC helps facilitate the building of NIEM Core objects and manages the harmonization and reuse of NIEM objects across domains and COIs. The NBAC develops processes to ensure that NIEM meets the diverse and evolving business needs of domains and COIs and expands the scope of NIEM to incorporate additional domains.
NIEM Technical Architecture Committee (NTAC) ensures the robust and effective development of the NIEM Core structure, technical architecture, and processes to support NIEM and enable users to efficiently use and reuse NIEM objects and NIEM-conformant IEPDs. The NTAC provides technical support, tools, and a methodology to implement the business-driven exchanges proposed by the NBAC and advises the NIEM PMO in the development and enhancement of these tools. The NTAC ensures that all content in NIEM appropriately conforms to the NIEM architecture and naming and design rules (NDR), while reconciling data security, privacy, and sensitivity issues through technical solutions.

The current infrastructure of NIEM includes representation by federal, state, local, tribal, and private entities, and offers the following customer support offerings:

NIEM training programs with courses segmented to target distinct audience needs.
NC&OC offers meetings and conference, as well as knowledge center (help desk) support.
Business and technical support, which includes working groups such as the NBAC and NTAC that support tool development and model harmonization and requirements.