EIC and DHS Sign Agreement on Emergency Response Standards Development

Emergency Interoperability Consortium Announces Agreement with Department of Homeland Security to Promote Data Sharing During Emergencies

Groundbreaking Public/Private Sector Alliance Will Promote the Development of Standards for Sharing Emergency Response Information

Washington, D.C., USA. January 13, 2005.

The Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to promote the development and proliferation of data sharing standards for emergency response. Thought to be the first of its kind between DHS and a non-government entity, the agreement establishes an alliance between the organizations to jointly promote the design, development, release, and use of XML standards to help solve data sharing problems commonly encountered during emergency operations. The initial term of the agreement is three years.

"This DHS/EIC alliance is an important step towards realizing the potential of a public/private partnership to rapidly develop and proliferate valid and commercially sustainable interoperability standards," commented Matt Walton, EIC chairman and vice chairman and founder of E Team, Inc., a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of crisis management software. "Removal of the barriers that currently hinder data sharing in emergencies will benefit everyone involved - from the government agencies that work to secure our nation against potential threats to first responders in the field and the people they assist."

Initial collaborative efforts between DHS and EIC have already borne fruit in the release in 2004 of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), the first data standard for sharing alert information between dissimilar systems. The next generation of data sharing standards, being developed with the leadership of emergency response organizations, is called Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL). It goes beyond alerting to address the routing and substance of a wide variety of interagency emergency messaging. The first of these, a common "header" for routing emergency messages, has been passed from EIC with DHS concurrence to the OASIS formal standards development organization. This EDXL routing tool was first trialed passing messages among ten different emergency communications products in a demonstration at George Washington University sponsored by EIC, DHS, and others late in 2004. Steve Cooper, the DHS Chief Information Officer and signatory on the MOA with EIC, was the keynote speaker at the demonstration. Barry West, the CIO of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), also signed the MOA.

"The Department of Homeland Security is pleased to have established an alliance with EIC to promote the rapid development of both valid and commercially sustainable standards to share data between all levels of the emergency response community," said Gordon Fullerton, executive sponsor of the Disaster Management Program of DHS. "Based on the early success of CAP, we are committed to working with emergency response practitioners, EIC, the OASIS Technical Committee, and others to produce multiple standards in the coming year that will make it possible to get critical emergency data to those that need it."

The Memorandum of Agreement provides for a collaborative process to improve information sharing capabilities to protect the nation and its citizens from the consequences of disasters and other emergencies, regardless of cause. It encourages broad-based participation in the design, development, acceptance, and use of XML standards to enable emergency organizations to receive and share data in real time. EIC and DHS are to work together to educate federal, state, local, and tribal governments, the media, citizens, and industry on the meaning and importance of data sharing within the emergency response communities, and to promote innovation and collaboration in these communities around open architectures and standards.

By working together, both DHS and EIC believe that government and industry can more quickly and cost-effectively bridge the data sharing gap between organizations that must be able to interoperate in response to the natural and man-made hazards that form the core of the DHS mission. After an initial term of three years, the agreement can be renewed for additional two-year periods.

"Data interoperability is at the heart of effective response," said Richard Taylor, chairman of the safety non-profit ComCARE Alliance, and 9-1-1 director for the State of North Carolina. "We are delighted at the effective and cooperative way EIC and this DHS program are engaging our emergency response members in rapidly developing common standards." ComCARE is represented on EIC's Board.

About EIC

The Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) was launched in October 2002 to address the nation's lack of consistent technical interoperability and standards for emergency and incident management. Now comprised of over 50 private entities, public agencies, university groups, and non-profit organizations, EIC promotes the development and adoption of standards for using Web services, Extensible Markup Language (XML), and existing exchange protocols that support the timely and accurate exchange of incident information throughout the emergency response communities.

For more information on EIC, see www.eic.org, or contact Matt Walton at matt.walton@eic.org or 818-932-0660 ext. 204.

Contact

Matt Walton
Email: matt.walton@eic.org
Tel: +1 818-932-0660 ext. 204

Extract from the DHS and EIC Memorandum of Agreement

DHS and EIC Memorandum of Agreement. January 2005. "This agreement establishes an alliance between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) to promote the design, development, release and use of XML schema-based standards or other standards, tools, and processes that will help solve data sharing problems..." From Sections I (Parties) and III (Purpose):

Parties: This agreement is entered into between the Disaster Management Electronic Government Initiative (DM Egov) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC), a consortium primarily of software development and services industry members that provides emergency and disaster management tools and applications to federal, state, local and industry organizations. The EIC is a not-for-profit corporation that promotes standards development activities of which are affiliated with the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). OASIS promotes and certifies open standards based information exchanges and formats.

The EIC was formed to facilitate the removal of barriers that prevent or hinder emergency data, communications, and technology sharing within the emergency management and emergency response communities. Consortium members and DHS share the common goal of achieving seamless application and data information sharing among disparate systems, services, and functional assets to save lives, reduce injuries, protect property, and preserve homeland security during disasters or common emergencies and to facilitate the interoperability requirements of the National Incident Management System (NIMS)...

Purpose: This agreement establishes an alliance between DHS and the Consortium to promote the design, development, release and use of XML schema-based standards or other standards, tools, and processes that will help solve data sharing problems and meet the following objectives:

Improving information sharing capabilities to protect the nation and its citizens from the consequences of disasters and other emergencies, regardless of cause

Encouraging broad-based participation in the design, development, acceptance and use of XML schema-based or other standards

Promoting the use of XML schema-based or other standards within industry and government after demonstration of their practical uses

Enabling emergency organizations to receive and share the data they need in real time, using flexible, open architecture and secure systems

Educating federal, state, local and tribal governments, the media, citizens and industry on the meaning and importance of data sharing within the emergency management and response communities

Coordinating with appropriate organizations in adjoining countries based on existing protocols, treaties and international laws

Encouraging, promoting and fostering innovation in the emergency management and emergency response communities

Fostering a collaborative working environment among federal, state, local and tribal jurisdictions.

This agreement will promote higher quality services by utilizing the existing expertise of the private sector, reduce the technical complexity of integration, maximize industry choice, promote competition for such services, provide an open and standardized development roadmap for organizations, provide an open information architecture for transmitting and sharing emergency information, and should meet the objectives in the least costly manner. By working toward these goals, DHS and the Consortium can create an environment that provides greater certainty and less risk in the advancement of emergency management systems and data sharing.

To accomplish the above stated objectives, DHS and the Consortium will work together to develop and deploy — and make available to federal, state, local, tribal and industry organizations — open standard data models that promote secure data sharing of emergency data...

Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. General references in "Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL)."

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The Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to promote the development and proliferation of data sharing standards for emergency response. Thought to be the first of its kind between DHS and a non-government entity, the agreement establishes an alliance between the organizations to jointly promote the design, development, release, and use of XML standards to help solve data sharing problems commonly encountered during emergency operations. The initial term of the agreement is three years. "This DHS/EIC alliance is an important step towards realizing the potential of a public/private partnership to rapidly develop and proliferate valid and commercially sustainable interoperability standards," commented Matt Walton, EIC chairman and vice chairman and founder of E Team, Inc., a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of crisis management software. "Removal of the barriers that currently hinder data sharing in emergencies will benefit everyone involved - from the government agencies that work to secure our nation against potential threats to first responders in the field and the people they assist." Initial collaborative efforts between DHS and EIC have already borne fruit in the release in 2004 of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), the first data standard for sharing alert information between dissimilar systems. The next generation of data sharing standards, being developed with the leadership of emergency response organizations, is called Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL). It goes beyond alerting to address the routing and substance of a wide variety of interagency emergency messaging. The first of these, a common "header" for routing emergency messages, has been passed from EIC with DHS concurrence to the OASIS formal standards development organization. This EDXL routing tool was first trialed passing messages among ten different emergency communications products in a demonstration at George Washington University sponsored by EIC, DHS, and others late in 2004. Steve Cooper, the DHS Chief Information Officer and signatory on the MOA with EIC, was the keynote speaker at the demonstration. Barry West, the CIO of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), also signed the MOA. "The Department of Homeland Security is pleased to have established an alliance with EIC to promote the rapid development of both valid and commercially sustainable standards to share data between all levels of the emergency response community," said Gordon Fullerton, executive sponsor of the Disaster Management Program of DHS. "Based on the early success of CAP, we are committed to working with emergency response practitioners, EIC, the OASIS Technical Committee, and others to produce multiple standards in the coming year that will make it possible to get critical emergency data to those that need it." The Memorandum of Agreement provides for a collaborative process to improve information sharing capabilities to protect the nation and its citizens from the consequences of disasters and other emergencies, regardless of cause. It encourages broad-based participation in the design, development, acceptance, and use of XML standards to enable emergency organizations to receive and share data in real time. EIC and DHS are to work together to educate federal, state, local, and tribal governments, the media, citizens, and industry on the meaning and importance of data sharing within the emergency response communities, and to promote innovation and collaboration in these communities around open architectures and standards. By working together, both DHS and EIC believe that government and industry can more quickly and cost-effectively bridge the data sharing gap between organizations that must be able to interoperate in response to the natural and man-made hazards that form the core of the DHS mission. After an initial term of three years, the agreement can be renewed for additional two-year periods. "Data interoperability is at the heart of effective response," said Richard Taylor, chairman of the safety non-profit ComCARE Alliance, and 9-1-1 director for the State of North Carolina. "We are delighted at the effective and cooperative way EIC and this DHS program are engaging our emergency response members in rapidly developing common standards." ComCARE is represented on EIC's Board. About EIC The Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) was launched in October 2002 to address the nation's lack of consistent technical interoperability and standards for emergency and incident management. Now comprised of over 50 private entities, public agencies, university groups, and non-profit organizations, EIC promotes the development and adoption of standards for using Web services, Extensible Markup Language (XML), and existing exchange protocols that support the timely and accurate exchange of incident information throughout the emergency response communities. For more information on EIC, see www.eic.org, or contact Matt Walton at matt.walton@eic.org or 818-932-0660 ext. 204. Contact Matt Walton Email: matt.walton@eic.org Tel: +1 818-932-0660 ext. 204 Extract from the DHS and EIC Memorandum of Agreement DHS and EIC Memorandum of Agreement. January 2005. "This agreement establishes an alliance between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) to promote the design, development, release and use of XML schema-based standards or other standards, tools, and processes that will help solve data sharing problems..." From Sections I (Parties) and III (Purpose): Parties: This agreement is entered into between the Disaster Management Electronic Government Initiative (DM Egov) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC), a consortium primarily of software development and services industry members that provides emergency and disaster management tools and applications to federal, state, local and industry organizations. The EIC is a not-for-profit corporation that promotes standards development activities of which are affiliated with the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). OASIS promotes and certifies open standards based information exchanges and formats. The EIC was formed to facilitate the removal of barriers that prevent or hinder emergency data, communications, and technology sharing within the emergency management and emergency response communities. Consortium members and DHS share the common goal of achieving seamless application and data information sharing among disparate systems, services, and functional assets to save lives, reduce injuries, protect property, and preserve homeland security during disasters or common emergencies and to facilitate the interoperability requirements of the National Incident Management System (NIMS)... Purpose: This agreement establishes an alliance between DHS and the Consortium to promote the design, development, release and use of XML schema-based standards or other standards, tools, and processes that will help solve data sharing problems and meet the following objectives: Improving information sharing capabilities to protect the nation and its citizens from the consequences of disasters and other emergencies, regardless of cause Encouraging broad-based participation in the design, development, acceptance and use of XML schema-based or other standards Promoting the use of XML schema-based or other standards within industry and government after demonstration of their practical uses Enabling emergency organizations to receive and share the data they need in real time, using flexible, open architecture and secure systems Educating federal, state, local and tribal governments, the media, citizens and industry on the meaning and importance of data sharing within the emergency management and response communities Coordinating with appropriate organizations in adjoining countries based on existing protocols, treaties and international laws Encouraging, promoting and fostering innovation in the emergency management and emergency response communities Fostering a collaborative working environment among federal, state, local and tribal jurisdictions. This agreement will promote higher quality services by utilizing the existing expertise of the private sector, reduce the technical complexity of integration, maximize industry choice, promote competition for such services, provide an open and standardized development roadmap for organizations, provide an open information architecture for transmitting and sharing emergency information, and should meet the objectives in the least costly manner. By working toward these goals, DHS and the Consortium can create an environment that provides greater certainty and less risk in the advancement of emergency management systems and data sharing. To accomplish the above stated objectives, DHS and the Consortium will work together to develop and deploy — and make available to federal, state, local, tribal and industry organizations — open standard data models that promote secure data sharing of emergency data... Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. General references in "Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL)."