U.S. Government to Transition National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) to OASIS Open
Department of Homeland Security Signs on as First Premier Sponsor of New Public/Private Partnership
14 September 2022 – OASIS Open, the international open source and standards consortium, today announced that NIEM (formerly known as National Information Exchange Model), will transition to NIEM Open, an OASIS Open Project, in October 2022. A collaborative partnership between private industry and all levels of governmental agencies, the NIEM framework enables the effective and efficient sharing of critical data as currently demonstrated in the justice, public safety, emergency and disaster management, intelligence, and homeland security sectors. NIEM is designed to facilitate the creation of automated enterprise-wide information exchanges. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has committed to support NIEM Open at the Premier Sponsor level to advance the critical work of the project.
This October, when NIEM transitions from the U.S. Department of Defense to OASIS, an ANSI-accredited and ISO-recognized standards development organization, NIEM’s expansion into global markets will provide access to a larger pool of stakeholders and developers to contribute to the project, creating a path for NIEM to become an official standard in national and international policy and procurement.
“Transitioning to an OASIS Open Project allows NIEM to become more readily available to international communities and organizations that want to adopt NIEM,” said Stuart Whitehead of the U.S. Department of Defense. “We look forward to working with new alliances in the private sector to assist in the integration of NIEM into even broader user communities, allowing NIEM to become the gold standard for public-private partnerships. This is an exciting time to continue to advance the NIEM model technically as it transforms into an open, international standard.”
“At OASIS, there’s an extensive set of processes for collaborative development of standards. This is the type of environment that technology companies and government agencies need to accelerate interoperability initiatives across boundaries,” said Katherine Escobar, Deputy Division Chief for the Joint Staff’s J6 Data and Services Division. “We will continue to look for ways to simplify use, embrace emerging technologies, and welcome new communities. We look forward to expanding the NIEM footprint and seeing NIEM Open help organizations exchange information to improve decision making, increase efficiency, and advance their missions.”
“DHS S&T is excited to see the evolution of NIEM to an OASIS Open Project,” said Philip Mattson, Standards Executive and Senior Standards Advisor at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “This will strengthen NIEM’s overall development, raising the level of collaboration in diverse communities.”
NIEM Open’s Sponsors will provide strategic vision, governance, and technical guidance for future efforts and have the option to serve on the Project Governing Board, where they approve work produced by the community as well as proposals for new open source projects. To learn more about becoming a Sponsor and joining the Project’s Governing Board, please contact join@oasis-open.org.
Additional Information:
About NIEM:
Established in 2005 by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, NIEM is a community-driven, standards-based approach to facilitate information sharing. U.S. and International organizations across Federal, State, Local, Tribal, Territorial, Public, Private and Commercial sectors use NIEM as a common base data model and methodology to promote interoperability of data and software, reduce design and development time for information exchange applications, and allow the reuse of intellectual capital and skills across multiple projects.
About OASIS:
One of the most respected, nonprofit open source and open standards bodies in the world, OASIS advances the fair, transparent development of open source software and standards through the power of global collaboration and community. OASIS is the home for worldwide standards in IoT, cybersecurity, blockchain, privacy, cryptography, cloud computing, urban mobility, emergency management, and other content technologies. Many OASIS standards go on to be ratified by de jure bodies and referenced in international policies and government procurement. More information can be found at https://www.oasis-open.org/.
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