NIEM Community Launches Version 3.0 at NIEM in November
On Wednesday, November 6, 256 in-person and virtual members of the NIEM community “did something different” and came together for NIEM in November. Hosted at the National Defense University, NIEM in November was a day-long gathering to share exciting news, updates, and accolades.
NIEM 3.0 is Live!
NIEM Executive Director, Donna Roy, kicked off the day by launching NIEM 3.0, the latest major model release. Donna remarked that “3.0 is the highest quality release we’ve ever had.” She thanked the community for their contribution to the 13-month development timeline, which included over 20 model harmonization calls, 100 review submissions, and 3 rounds of public reviews. She then invited Chris Traver, Senior Policy Advisor to the Department of Justice, and Mark Kindl, NIEM 3.0 Lead Developer, to officially launch NIEM 3.0.
Download the NIEM 3.0 model release package and schemas at NIEM.gov.
Best of NIEM Awards
Keeping the energy going, the 2013 Best of NIEM winners were announced. The winners’ stories gave the audience insight into the awesome ways NIEM is helping to enable crucial information exchange at all levels of government and across borders. As Van Hitch, one of the founders of NIEM and former CIO to the Department of Justice, later said, “We need things like Best of NIEM to grow the community and recognize our successes.”
Check out the Best of NIEM award winners!
The Past, Present, and Future of NIEM
The panel discussion on the past, present, and future of NIEM featured Van Hitch, NIEM founder; Justin Stekervetz, Acting Managing Director of the NIEM Program Management Office; and David DeVries, Deputy CIO to the Department of Defense. Mr. Hitch described the success of NIEM since its inception eight years ago. The panelists shared their experiences with NIEM and what they see as the challenges and opportunities going forward. As Mr. DeVries explained, “Inside DoD, we’re saying, ‘consider NIEM first if you’re looking to share information.’” Mr. Stekervetz enthusiastically described his vision for the NIEM Unified Modeling Language (NIEM-UML).
Live Geo4NIEM Demonstration
The Geo4NIEM presentation gave the community a snapshot of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and partners’ work with NIEM. Specifically, the effort further enhanced the model’s geospatial capability to improve inter-government information exchange.
The live demo of NIEM and OGC-based standards in action demonstrated geospatial markup language (GML) and NIEM capabilities. While no changes occurred to the model with respect to the NIEM technical architecture, modifications were made to better leverage external geospatial components. Additionally, the demonstrations proved the use of embedded NIEM-conformant components in GML Application Schemas. This provides functionality for map-centric information versus the traditional NIEM-centric information exchange.
Domain Lightning Rounds
Finally, the NIEM domain representatives each spoke about what’s new during the Domain Lightning Round. Nine domains were represented, giving attendees a chance to see the domains’ accomplishments over the past year, as well as what’s next.
Making Connections with NIEM
In addition to sharing exciting updates, NIEM in November enabled the community to make in-person and online connections. In Donna Roy’s closing remarks, she mentioned how inspired she is by the energy of the program. The community’s dedication and involvement made the day a huge success and a model for future community gatherings.
Did You Miss NIEM in November?
Check out our Storify page, which collects Twitter photos, tweets, and conversations from NIEM in November.