National Information Exchange Model

National Information Exchange Model
Name	National Information Exchange Model
Abbreviation	NIEM
Type	Data model
Developer	United States Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice (United States)
First release	2006
Website	NIEM.gov

National Information Exchange Model is an open framework for interoperable information exchange that supports standardized data sharing across multiple United States Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Department of Justice, and state and local agencies. The model provides a common vocabulary for exchanging information among entities such as Department of Defense (United States), Federal Emergency Management Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and private-sector partners like Microsoft and Oracle Corporation. NIEM is used in initiatives involving Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5, Presidential Policy Directive 8, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Patriot Act, and interoperability efforts related to National Incident Management System and National Response Framework.

Overview

NIEM defines a shared data model and governance approach to enable interoperable exchanges among organizations including Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense (United States), Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice (United States), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Transportation (United States), State of California, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, City of New York, County of Los Angeles, Texas Department of Public Safety, Illinois State Police, National Governors Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Council of State Governments, National Sheriffs' Association, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, United States Conference of Mayors, National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, American Public Health Association, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, RAND Corporation, Brookings Institution, Pew Research Center, Accenture, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Booz Allen Hamilton, Leidos, SAIC, CACI International, Palantir Technologies, IBM, SAP SE, Symantec, Cisco Systems, AT&T, Verizon Communications, Google collaborate in adoption and tool integration.

NIEM comprises a taxonomy of reusable data components derived from domain-specific requirements created by task forces and communities of interest drawn from United States Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice (United States), Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Communications Commission, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Office of Management and Budget (United States), Government Accountability Office, Congress of the United States, United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, White House policy offices, and state legislatures like the California State Assembly.

History and Development

NIEM originated from joint efforts between United States Department of Justice and United States Department of Homeland Security following reports by Office of Management and Budget (United States), Government Accountability Office, and advisory input from National Science Foundation. Pilot projects involved partnerships with State of New Jersey, State of Virginia, State of Texas, City of Chicago, City of Baltimore, County of San Diego, and federal programs such as TERRORISM RISK INSURANCE ACT, Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5, and modernization initiatives tied to Clinger–Cohen Act reforms. Early implementations referenced data standards from Health Level Seven International, International Organization for Standardization, American National Standards Institute, National Information Standards Organization, and the Publication 800 series of National Institute of Standards and Technology.

NIEM evolved through formal releases and versioning managed by governance groups including the NIEM Executive Steering Committee, working groups with representation from United States Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice (United States), Federal Bureau of Investigation, and stakeholder organizations like International Association of Chiefs of Police and National Governors Association. Funding and strategic direction were influenced by appropriations from the United States Congress and oversight documents from the Government Accountability Office.

Architecture and Standards

NIEM's architecture leverages Extensible Markup Language and XML Schema Definition constructs and integrates with technical standards such as Open Web Application Security Project, Simple Object Access Protocol, Representational State Transfer, Java Architecture for XML Binding, Web Services Description Language, and Security Assertion Markup Language. NIEM reuses vocabularies and namespaces from United Nations, European Union, World Health Organization, International Civil Aviation Organization, and standards bodies including ISO/IEC JTC 1.

The model defines re-usable components like data elements, types, and structures which align with metadata frameworks from Dublin Core, Federal Geographic Data Committee, North American Industry Classification System, and Unicode Consortium standards. Conformance testing and validation use toolchains developed by vendors and open-source projects supported by Apache Software Foundation, Eclipse Foundation, GitHub, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and research centers at Carnegie Mellon University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Implementation and Use Cases

NIEM supports exchange packages for use cases spanning criminal justice information sharing involving National Crime Information Center, Fusion Centers, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Drug Enforcement Administration, and courts such as United States Supreme Court and United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Public health implementations involve Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, State Health Departments, and programs like Disease Surveillance and Bioterrorism Preparedness. Emergency management use cases include integration with Federal Emergency Management Agency incident management systems, National Incident Management System coordination across United States Coast Guard, National Guard (United States), Air National Guard, and United States Army units supporting disaster response.

Other domains include Transportation Security Administration screening data exchanges, Environmental Protection Agency enforcement actions, Social Security Administration benefit eligibility, and Internal Revenue Service tax administration modernization prototypes. Industry adopters include Oracle Corporation, Microsoft, IBM, SAP SE, Palantir Technologies, and system integrators such as Accenture, Deloitte, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Leidos.

Governance and Management

NIEM governance is organized through committees and governance boards with stakeholders from United States Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice (United States), Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Office of Management and Budget (United States), Government Accountability Office, and state and local representatives such as National Governors Association and International Association of Chiefs of Police. Policy, release management, and domain steward responsibilities are codified in memoranda and agreements with participation from academic partners like Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University.

NIEM operations include community of interest governance models, domain-specific working groups for Justice, Emergency Management, Health, Immigration, and tools stewardship coordinated with private sector collaborators including Microsoft, IBM, Oracle Corporation, Palantir Technologies, and standards organizations such as ISO and IEEE.

Criticism and Challenges

Criticism of NIEM has been raised in audits by the Government Accountability Office and analyses by RAND Corporation and Brookings Institution concerning implementation complexity, governance fragmentation, and sustainability of funding from the United States Congress. Technical critiques cite integration overhead with legacy systems at agencies like Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Department of Defense (United States), and difficulties mapping domain ontologies across stakeholders including State of California, State of New York, City of Los Angeles, and City of Houston.

Privacy and civil liberties concerns have been highlighted by American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation with respect to information sharing across law enforcement and public health domains, intersecting with statutes like the Privacy Act of 1974 and regulations enforced by the Office for Civil Rights (United States Department of Health and Human Services). Operational challenges also include ensuring conformance across vendors such as Oracle Corporation, IBM, Microsoft, and system integrators including Deloitte and Accenture, and maintaining alignment with evolving standards from National Institute of Standards and Technology and international bodies like World Health Organization.

Category:Information technology standards