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Last modified: June 21, 2006
Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL)

Overview

Several organizations are collaborating on the design and development of a suite of specifications under the name "Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL)." An outline of the initiative is presented in a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC), announced in January 2005. This MOA serves 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" related to emergency information.

Development of high-level functional requirements is coordinated by DHS through the Disaster Management eGov Initiative. Prototyping and proof-of-concept testing is coordinated through the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC). The OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee participates in the design of format specifications (e.g., XML Schemas) based upon the technical requirements provided by DHS and EIC.

The OASIS Emergency Management TC was chartered "to create incident and emergency-related standards for data interoperability. The TC welcomes participation from members of the emergency management community, developers and implementers, and members of the public concerned with disaster management and response. Standards under review by the committee as of 2005-07 included both CAP and EDXL. (1) The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is a data interchange standard for alerting and event notification applications, currently in draft version 1.1. CAP functions both as a standalone protocol and as a payload for EDXL messages. (2) The Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) is a broad initiative to create an integrated framework for a wide range of emergency data exchange standards to support operations, logistics, planning and finance."

Overview of the EDXL standards activity is provided below in excerpts from key documents (available as of 2005-05):

Extract from the DHS and EIC Memorandum of Agreement

DHS and EIC Memorandum of Agreement. approved September 2004, signed 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...

Disaster Management eGov Initiative

"Disaster Management eGov Initiative." Briefing by Bill Kalin, presented at the OASIS Technical Committee Meeting, April 27, 2005. Pages 6-7 present the Incident Management Standards Process Flow and explain the design approach taken for creating information sharing capabilities between disparate incident management software applications. Here (unofficially) adapted/excerpted:

The Disaster Management eGov Initiative is one of the twenty-four (24) eGov initiatives established by the President's Management Agenda. It supports a multitude of Federal Agency missions, including DHS and FEMA missions to reduce the loss of life and property in any phase of a disaster event; it also supports the Federal mission to provide the Nation a comprehensive, risk-based emergency management program. Development of "data exchange standards" is one of the three pillars (program components) in the Disaster Management eGov Initiative. Two other components include the DisasterHelp.Gov portal for information and services, and the Disaster Management Interoperability Services (DMIS).

The program for incident management data standards is intended to facilitate the creation of information sharing capabilities between disparate incident management software applications. Development of these national standards is driven by practioners, not by Federal agencies; they are to be public standards for which practitioners define requirements and set priorities. DHS facilitates (formalization of) the requirements for the standards. while the non-profit Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) implements the standards [with prototypes and interoperability demonstrations] and submits them to OASIS for approval and publication. DHS will be establishing a process to certify compliance for interoperable systems and devices [to help] bridge the gap between incident management applications and the ability to share data.

Incident Management Standards Process Flow

  • Practitioners identify, prioritize, and recommend standards for development
  • DHS/FEMA supports coordination activities
  • DM facilitates draft standards with national practitioner groups, private industry; DHS supports trials
  • Present draft standard to recognized standards making body(s)
  • Recognized standards making body(s) will review and approve standards
  • Recognized standards making body(s) will publish standards
  • Approved standards will be incorporated into DMIS and vendor products

Progress to date includes the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) Version 1.0, approved by OASIS in April 2004. There was a interoperability event to demonstrate the Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) 'Distribution Element' on October 27, 2004. [As the OASIS TC works to formalize the model and schema for the draft 'Distribution Element',] the EIC Practitioner Working Group is reviewing case studies and draft requirements for the next EDXL standard: 'Resource Management'. DHS hopes to support the development of 6-8 standards per year.

EDXL Initiative Overview and Phased Approach

"The goal of the EDXL initiative is to facilitate emergency information sharing and data exchange across the local, state, tribal, national and non-governmental organizations of different professions that provide emergency response and management services. The effort focuses on standardization of specific messages (messaging interfaces) to facilitate emergency communication and coordination particularly when more than one profession is involved. Once standardized, any technology vendor or organization can easily develop their XML-based messaging interface.

The EDXL Practitioners group drives priorities and requirements for specific EDXL messages sets and messaging components. The objective is to rapidly deliver implementable standard messages in an incremental fashion directly to emergency response agencies in the trenches, providing seamless communication and coordination supporting each particular process. The effort first addresses the most urgent needs and proceeds to subsequent message sets in a prioritized fashion. The goal is to incrementally develop and deliver standards...

The EDXL initiative is a national effort including a diverse and representative group of local, state and federal emergency response organizations and professionals, following a multi-step process. A group of practitioners from leading emergency response organizations prioritize specific message sets and define base requirements...

Standard Message Sets: [Several] EDXL components and message sets [have been] identified to date for standardization activity. It is important to distinguish between the 'Distribution Element' vs. the other message sets; 'Distribution Element' may be thought of as a container which facilitates the routing of message sets (any properly formatted XML emergency message) to recipients. The message sets (e.g., Alerts, Resource Management) are carried as payloads that are routed by the Distribution Element...

  • Distribution Element: An EDXL 'Distribution Element' has been developed [and] the OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee is reviewing it to make it a public standard... The Distribution Element carries and routes 'payload' message sets (such as Alerts or Resource Management), by specifying key routing information such as incident type and affected geography, as well as basic information such as incident ID, message type and sending agency. A series of demonstrations starting in October 2004 verified application of the Distribution Element by demonstrating generation, receipt and update of common message sets across different emergency technology tools owned by a diversity of government jurisdictions and emergency response agencies. A growing number of emergency technology vendors are using the Distribution Element in ongoing demonstrations and are prepared to incorporate it into their production systems when it becomes an official standard...

  • Alert Message Set: The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) was developed by many of the same parties and processes as EDXL. It was originally sponsored by the Partnership for Public Warning and became an official OASIS standard in 2004. It has been adopted as a payload within EDXL messages, due to the flexibility of the EDXL 'open container model'. CAP messages facilitate the exchanging of hazard emergency alerts and public warnings. Any other accepted standard XML format can also be the payload carried and routed by the EDXL distribution element.

  • Resource Message Set: The initial EDXL practitioner group said last fall [2004] that its next priority was message sets regarding Resource Messaging (RM). They asked for messages to request (or respond to requests) for persons and things required in emergencies. A draft document addressing a Resource Message has been developed and is being considered by the Standards Working Group. A number of detailed scenarios are being analyzed to determine the wide range of specific interagency and inter-profession resource messages.

  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Following Resource Management Messaging, the next priority is to provide message sets addressing GIS information. The GIS message set addresses the need to identify, track, trend, or forecast events and resources. This message set also addresses the need to establish the geospatial context; to communicate about geographic features and things through standard symbols and associated information. For example, a GIS message may assist an emergency responder to assess the geographic scope of an event, to locate a required resource, to pinpoint where a resource needs to report, or to assess other geographic considerations related to an event. The symbology for this message will be 'consumed' from efforts led by FEMA, FGDC and other applicable efforts developing common mapping symbols.

  • Situation Status: Situation status is a report providing the overall status of an event and the subsequent emergency response.

  • Other specific message sets: Additional message needs will be addressed as the Practitioners raise the need for them..." [adapted from the document "Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Overview and Phased Approach" (Comcare Alliance)]

EDXL: Summary from the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC)

According to a report from EIC ("Creating an Emergency Data Exchange Language"):

EDXL was proposed as a "cooperative effort to define a NIMS-compliant family of shared data exchange specifications encompassing: Incident Notification and Situation Reports; Status Reporting; Resource Requests and Dispatch; Analytical Data; Geospatial Information; Identification and Authentication.

The first design principle for EDXL will be collaboration and transparency; the second will be adopting, promoting and spreading the work that has already been done to other professions (particularly with the very extensive GJXDM dictionary), i.e. no re-inventing of wheels; the third principle will be speed to deployment. The Disaster Management eGov Initiative (managed by DHS' Disaster Management Program) is providing organizational resources and technical support. The involvement of all emergency practitioner groups is encouraged. The ComCARE Alliance has been tasked by DHS to facilitate these groups' participation...

EDXL is intended to "comprise three layers of data exchange standards utilizing XML data syntax and services:

  • EDXL Vocabulary: Specified data elements and taxonomies to apply common terminology to data sharing regarding emergency incidents, conditions, resources, activities and outcomes. This will draw heavily on current common-vocabulary efforts (Justice Data Dictionary, FEMA resource typing, NIMS, etc) and the XML standards cited above. This project will support emergency organizations reviewing the XML and taxonomy work product of other professions to find commonalities (the 'common terms' project).
  • EDXL Messages: We will develop formats for messages (XML documents) using the EDXL Vocabulary to implement routing of emergency messages (a draft 'header' has been produced, trialed and submitted for standards approval) and business processes such as emergency response resources reports, queries, updates, cancellations and error-handling. The current focus is on resource messages.
  • EDXL Interfaces: Technical protocols and formats for routing of EDXL messages over various kinds of data networks and systems, based on SOAP and web-services standards, but generalized for use in a wide variety of communications environments. Our goal is to make it simple and straightforward for vendors to write interfaces from their products to EDXL."

Principal URLs

Specifications

  • [June 20, 2006] Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Distribution Element, v. 1.0. OASIS Standard EDXL-DE v1.0, 1-May-2006. Document Identifier: 'EDXL-DE-V1.0'. OASIS Identifier: '{EMTC}-{EDXL-DE}-{1.0} (HTML) (Word) (PDF)'. Location: This Version: 'http://docs.oasis-open.org/emergency/EDXL-DE/V1.0'. Technical Committee: OASIS Emergency Management TC. Chair(s): Elysa Jones (Warning Systems, Inc). Editor(s): Michelle Raymond, Individual; Sylvia Webb, Individual; Patti Iles Aymond (IEM, Inc).

  • [May 23, 2005] "EDXL Resource Message" specification. Working title for a resource management specification, in draft. "A draft document addressing a Resource Message has been developed and is being considered by the Standards Working Group [EIC's EDXL Resource Message Standards Working Group (SWG)]. A number of detailed scenarios are being analyzed to determine the wide range of specific interagency and inter-profession resource messages... The Resource messages will facilitate inquiry, identification, location, request, order and tracking of required human resources, vehicles, equipment, supplies, and facilities." (from EIC)

  • [May 19, 2005] Common Alerting Protocol Version 1.1 Public Review Draft. Members of the OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee released a Version 1.1 Committee Draft for the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) specification, and invited public review through July 15, 2005.

  • [May 17, 2005] Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Distribution Element. Draft released by the OASIS Emergency Management TC on May 17, 2005. 10 pages. See the summary. [source .DOC, cache]

  • [February 26, 2004] Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) Version 1.0.

    • Common Alerting Protocol, v. 1.0. OASIS Standard 200402. March 2004. Document identifier: 'oasis-200402-cap-core-1.0'. Edited by Art Botterell (Partnership for Public Warning). 32 pages. "The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is a simple but general format for exchanging allhazard emergency alerts and public warnings over all kinds of networks. CAP allows a consistent warning message to be disseminated simultaneously over many different warning systems, thus increasing warning effectiveness while simplifying the warning task. CAP also facilitates the detection of emerging patterns in local warnings of various kinds, such as might indicate an undetected hazard or hostile act. And CAP provides a template for effective warning messages based on best practices identified in academic research and real-world experience." [source PDF]
    • "Common Alerting Protocol Version 1.0 Approved by OASIS Emergency Management TC." News story 2004-02-26.

Articles, Papers, Presentations, Reports, News

  • [June 20, 2006] "OASIS Approves New Standards for Emergency Communications." By Todd Weiss. From ComputerWorld (June 20, 2006). "The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) has approved new emergency data interoperability standards aimed at drastically improving critical data sharing among emergency first responders, government officials and law enforcement authorities... The EDXL-DE standards are part of a larger emergency communications interoperability framework that includes the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), a text-based data-interchange format. CAP allows the collection and distribution of 'all-hazard' safety notifications and emergency warnings across information networks and public alert systems used by first responders... The kind of data that can be instantly shared by large numbers of emergency workers and agencies includes details about specific disasters, equipment needs, personnel requirements, hazardous situations and other related information. A new pilot project incorporating EDXL-DE amd CAP is being conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and several of the emergency communications systems vendors in Mississippi and Alabama. It will soon be expanded to Louisiana, Texas, and Florida, all of which were affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last August, [Elysa] Jones said..."

  • [June 20, 2006] "Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Distribution Element Ratified as OASIS Standard." In June 2006, OASIS anounced that the membership had "approved the Emergency Data Exchange Language Distribution Element (EDXL-DE) version 1.0 as an OASIS Standard, a status that signifies the highest level of ratification. Developed by the OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee, EDXL-DE facilitates emergency information sharing and data exchange across local, regional, tribal, national, and international organizations in the public and private sectors...EDXL began in 2004 as a project of the Disaster Management eGov Initiative of the DHS as a means to enhance inter-agency emergency data communications. DHS partnered with industry members of the Emergency Interoperability Consortium to bring the work to OASIS for advancement and standardization..."

  • [July 09, 2005] "The Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL)." Wiki description from the CAP Cookbook, snapshot 2005-07-09. "Based on the success of CAP, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the emergency preparedness and response branch of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formed a partnership with industry members of the Emergency Interoperabilty Consortium (EIC) to develop an expanded family of data formats for exchanging operational information beyond warning. The Emergency Digital Exchange Language (EDXL) is intended as an 'umbrella' for a number of emergency data message types including resource queries and requests, situation status and forecasts, financial and personnel data, message routing instructions and the like. Although the development of CAP had a headstart on EDXL and is continuing on its own track, at an appropriate time in the future CAP is likely to become another part of the larger EDXL framework. Requirements for EDXL are being developed by a Standards Working Group convened by FEMA and supported by the EIC. Technical refinement, internationalization and standard formalization is being done within the same OASIS technical committee that produced CAP. EDXL is a component project within the National Information Exchange Model..."

  • [June 07, 2005] "Agencies Move to Fine-Tune Emergency XML." By Alice Lipowicz. From Washington Technology (June 07, 2005). "A group of emergency management agencies and IT industry representatives, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are moving to refine their XML protocol for emergency public warnings. The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is a standard message format for emergency alerts and notifications. It is interoperable with many types of messaging software, making it easier to send a single message to a variety of recipients quickly. The Emergency Interoperability Consortium, composed of government and industry emergency management groups as well as FEMA, wrote the protocol in 2003. It was adopted in 2004 by OASIS and is being implemented by numerous federal, state and local disaster management agencies. The alerting protocol now has been updated to Version 1.1, and IT companies that support homeland security and public warning systems are invited to submit comments by July 15, 2005. In related developments, FEMA in January signed a memorandum of understanding with the consortium to develop additional Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL), a suite of XML standards that covers a broad variety of communications needs for emergency managers. The Common Alerting Protocol is viewed as a component of EDXL." Also published in Government Computer News.

  • [May 02, 2005] "Disaster Software Standards May Get Muscle from DHS." By Wilson P. Dizard III. From Government Computer News (May 02, 2005). "The Homeland Security Department could supercharge emergency management software standards by requiring the department's grantees to purchase compliant equipment. The Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate (also known as FEMA, its acronym from when it was the Federal Emergency Management Agency) is sponsoring the development of emergency management software standards via its Disaster Management e-government initiative. Chip Hines, program manager for the initiative, said FEMA is considering mandating these data interoperability standards for first responders and other disaster management organizations that receive department grants. 'We probably would like to see grant language that would say that if you are going to buy software that does incident management, it should be compatible with the following standards,' Hines said during the recent FOSE trade show. FEMA is the executive sponsor of incident management software standards being developed with vendors as well as state and local officials via the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, a not-for-profit consortium in Billerica, Mass. ... FEMA also is working through OASIS to develop the Emergency Data Exchange Language, which will provide a data-sharing methodology for creating a national database of incident reports, according to DHS. EDXL should be compatible with existing and planned networks at all government levels. EDXL developers are coordinating their work with the Global Justice XML Data Model, a large data dictionary sponsored by the Justice Department, as well as with emergency data software standards developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers..."

  • [April 2005] "Disaster Management Interoperability Services (DMIS) Outreach." In Disaster Management Interoperations Volume 6, Number 4 (April 2005). Published by Disaster Management Interoperability Services (DMIS). Contribution by Elysa Jones, [Chair, OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee; Engineering Program Manager, Warning Systems, Inc.] "Update on OASIS / EDXL Work and DMIS Involvement," edited by Avagene Moore. "The OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee (EM-TC) is working on the distribution element for the emergency data exchange language (EDXL). Requirements for the distribution element were handed off from the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) to the technical committee last November. There will be a two day EM-TC meeting (April 27-28, 2005) where much time will be devoted to working on the standard. The EIC with support from the ComCARE Alliance is now working on a second set of requirements that will evolve into a formal standard - the EDXL Resource Message. This effort is in keeping with the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed earlier this year between Steve Cooper and the EIC to promote the development and proliferation of data sharing standards for emergency response. Several meetings have been held in the past month to identify the components, transactions and vocabulary for the resource message. Collaboration with numerous groups is required due to the many overlapping and sometimes conflicting standards efforts touched by the EDXL work. DisasterHelp.gov is providing a collaboration point for relevant reference documentation. At the recent 2005 FOSE Exhibition, 'Where Government Meets Technology,' the OASIS EM-TC conducted an interoperability demonstration of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) 1.0. This first EM standard, approved and published over a year ago, is in wide use and gaining momentum. The demonstration utilized the DMIS server with Innovative Emergency Management (IEM) posting messages about an incident at a chemical stockpile. Anteon Corporation, EMAware and Warning Systems, Inc. pulled the message to notify first responders, send reports to FEMA, activate emergency action plans and activate alert and warning devices..."

  • [March 04, 2005] "Incident Management Comes of Age. National Response Plan and NIMS Offer Real Opportunities." By Blake Harris. From Government Technology Magazine (March 04, 2005). "The National Response Plan (NRP) builds on the National Incident Management System (NIMS) that already delineated the doctrine, concepts, principles, terminology and organizational processes needed for effective, efficient and collaborative incident management at all levels. In effect, the NIMS set forth the template for threat and incident management, and then the NRP incorporated this into an operational incident management or resource allocation plan... FEMA has laid out a number of NIMS compliance actives for the coming year. These include bringing NIMS into existing training programs and exercises, incorporating NIMS into emergency operations plans, and institutionalizing the use of the Incident Command System (ICS). Developing a standard incident management system is critical. As a FEMA position paper notes, 'Most incidents are local, but when we're faced with the worst-case scenario, such as Sept.11, 2001, all responding agencies must be able to interface and work together' ... a number of vendors, including E Team Inc. and Oracle, launched the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) in October 2002 to address the nation's lack of consistent technical interoperability standards for emergency and incident management. The EIC has now expanded to comprise more than 50 private entities, public agencies, university groups and nonprofit organizations. This led to collaborative efforts between the EIC and the DHS that have already borne fruit. In 2004, the Common Alerting Protocol was released — the first data standard for sharing alert information between dissimilar systems, which at least provides rudimentary formats for reporting incidents... The success of the collaboration between the EIC and the DHS led the EIC to sign a memorandum of agreement with the DHS to promote the development and proliferation of further data sharing standards for emergency response. The aim is for the two organizations to jointly promote the design, development, release and use of much more extensive XML schema-based standards, as well as other standards that will help solve data sharing problems commonly encountered during emergency operations. First on the agenda is development of what the EIC calls the Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL). This will go beyond incident alerts to address the routing and substance of all kinds of interagency emergency messaging. The upshot of these initiatives is that needed standards development is well under way. However, this alone, according to both Tullie and Bierly, will not ensure that NIMS becomes as effective as it needs to be..."

  • [February 17, 2005] "EIC and Its Members Receive Awards from DHS's Disaster Management eGov Initiative." - "The Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) today announced that several of its member organizations and companies have received Department of Homeland Security awards for providing outstanding leadership in emergency data interoperability, including participating in the first use of the Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL). Congressman Curt Weldon (R-PA), Vice Chairman of the House of Representatives' Homeland Security Committee, announced the awards on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Disaster Management eGov Initiative. Gordon Fullerton, Executive Sponsor of the DHS Initiative, conferred the award certificates on executives of the organizations... EIC is working with emergency response organizations to facilitate the development of additional common data messaging standards to allow emergency response agencies to share data with each other, regardless of the communications system they are using... Recently the EIC and the Department of Homeland Security announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Agreement to promote the development and proliferation of data sharing standards for emergency response. The agreement established an alliance between the two 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. Initial collaborative efforts between DHS and the EIC produced in 2004 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 'distributional element' for routing emergency messages, has been passed from the EIC with DHS concurrence to the OASIS formal standards development organization. The EIC encourages other companies to join in this mission of improving emergency communications through collaborative efforts..."

  • [February 07, 2005] "Update on Public Alert Systems." From News in Safe-Related Topics (February 07, 2005). "Art Botterell, an expert on emergency warning mechanisms that are far more granular and flexible than our current color-coded system, is profiled in Chapter 13 of the book [Safe: The Race to Protect Ourselves in a Newly Dangerous World] . Since the book's completion, the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), which he has helped develop, has made some exciting advances. Art writes: 'CAP was adopted as a standard by the international OASIS XML standards organization in April 2004. Since then the CAP format has been implemented in a variety of projects by DHS [Department of Homeland Security], NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association], a number of state programs including EDIS [Emergency Digital Information Service] in California, and in Australia. Right now DHS is evaluating CAP as the technical foundation for a next-generation Emergency Alert System utilizing digital television broadcasts. And we're just now putting final touches on a 'maintenance release' spec, CAP 1.1, which incorporates some of the lessons learned from the first round of applications. 'Meanwhile, CAP has inspired a much larger project, the 'Emergency Data Exchange Language' (EDXL), also being developed in the OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee in cooperation with DHS and an industry consortium called the Emergency Interoperability Consortium. EDXL is intended to provide a coherent set of XML-based data structures for all sorts of emergency data sharing: resource management, situation intelligence, planning and results tracking, etc., in addition to the alerting/warning function of CAP. The plan is that eventually CAP (at the 2.0 or 3.0 version) will become just one instance within EDXL. But that's for the future'..."

  • [January 17, 2005] "XML Deal Inked For Responders." By Dibya Sarkar. In Federal Computer Week (January 17, 2005). "Homeland Security Department officials and members of the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) say they have formally signed a memorandum of agreement to jointly design, develop, release and use Extensible Markup Language data-sharing standards for emergency response. 'This DHS/EIC alliance is an important step toward realizing the potential of a public/private partnership to rapidly develop and proliferate valid and commercially sustainable interoperability standards,' Matt Walton, EIC chairman and vice chairman and founder of E Team, said in a press release. '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.' Officials are already working on a next generation data sharing standard called the Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) that goes beyond the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), an open standard for exchanging hazard warnings and reports. CAP has been tested and certified as an international standard by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, a nonprofit global standards making body. EDXL, which will address the routing and substance of interagency emergency messaging, was tested in a demonstration in Washington, D.C., late last year..." See: (1) the text of the announcement; (2) DHS and EIC Memorandum of Agreement.

  • [January 13, 2005] "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." - "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. 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 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..."

  • [November 18, 2004] "Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL)." By Gordon Fullerton (Executive Sponsor, Disaster Management EGov Initiative, Washington D.C.) and Chip Hines (Program Manager, Department of Homeland Security, Washington D.C.). Presented in the 'Late Breaking News' Track at the XML 2004 Conference and Exhibition. See also the slides. "The Department of Homeland Security is facilitating a process to bring together leaders of key emergency organizations which have been developing XML standards for their professions. The goal of the initiative is to coordinate the definition of requirements specifications and the content of data sets for emergency information sharing between professions. This is a unique initiative and should accelerate the use of data sharing and XML in emergency response communities. These communities are represented in the process by leaders from the various XML data initiatives, including law enforcement, public safety, EMS, fire and rescue, emergency medicine, emergency management and transportation. These include specific pre-existing data initiatives such as the Global Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM), the IEEE ITS Incident Management (IM or 1512) Initiative, the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) standard recently issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and EMS groups, and 9-1-1 and related organizations. Some of the specific tasks and deliverables of the process include: (1) Introduce organizations and initiatives to each other; encourage cooperation; (2) Initiate and organize a methodology to compile and assimilate input received from the various constituents; (3) Develop a family of standard formats related to emergency information and sharing among the different professions; (4) Submit these to multiple trials; (5) Submit these to appropriate standards bodies. The process is defined as a phased approach with a number of specific tasks and responsibilities. An initial accomplishment has been the development of a draft message 'header' specification to enable data sharing among emergency information systems of different kinds. Its core use is in message routing. Any properly formatted XML message (e.g., Common Alerting Protocol) can be a 'payload'. The process is being facilitated by the ComCARE Alliance and supported by a wide variety of organizations, including the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC)..."

  • [November 15, 2004] "First Responders Seek Common Lingo: XML Serves as Base of New Language." By Diane Frank. In Federal Computer Week (November 15, 2004). "Interoperability is a hot topic in homeland security discussions, where it affects voice and data communications among first responders. Recognizing the problem, officials in the Homeland Security Department's Disaster Management e-Government Initiative Office are working with members of the Emergency Interoperability Consortium to develop an interoperability language known as Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL). The consortium is made up of federal, state and local agency officials and information technology industry leaders. EDXL, standards experts say, should allow emergency response officials to share information more broadly. The Emergency Interoperability Consortium is developing EDXL standards for several areas defined by the emergency response community. They include: Incident notification and situation reports; Status reporting; Resource requests and dispatches; Analytical data; Geospatial information; Identification and authentication. The EDXL standard itself is the next step in the evolution of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), an open standard for exchanging hazard warnings and reports..."

  • [November 03, 2004] "XML Can Help Keep America Safer. Homeland Security Proposes New XML Standard: EDXL." By XML-J News Desk. From SYS-CON .Net Developer's Journal (November 03, 2004). "In an attempt to mitigate the spread of various XML codes that have been developed without any standardization between jurisdictions, the Homeland Security Department's Disaster Management e-Government initiative has proposed a standard specific to emergency management and response. Using the proposed Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL), officials from the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) contend, will enable alerts and other important information to be shared across geographic regions, regardless of a user's technology and applications. The proposed data standard will help information-sharing programs overcome the hurdles faced with disparate hardware and application configuration. Matt Walton, chairman of the EIC, said EDXL will help overcome the problem of incompatible existing and proprietary systems by better defining the information being shared and identifying the various personnel and agencies involved..."

  • [November 2004] "Update on DMIS: XML for Emergency Data." In Disaster Management Interoperations Volume 5, Number 11 (April 2005). Published by Disaster Management Interoperability Services (DMIS). "In early August [2004, incident management vendors met to discuss ways to exchange data between their systems. Out of those meetings came a structured message format in Extensible Markup Language (XML) termed EDXL, the Emergency Data eXchange Language. The first step in using EDXL was to build sort of a distribution header that can be attached to messages created in one incident management system and then used to specify delivery through the DMIS interoperability backbone to other systems. The effort from first discussion to actual public demonstration was a blazing two months. The vendors collectively saw the need and the infrastructure necessary was for the most part in place, which made the aggressive schedule possible. In the presentation conducted at the George Washington University in October, Steve Cooper (CIO of the Department of Homeland Security) applauded the cooperative effort and introduced the demonstration of tools exchanging data created in one system and presented in another. The next steps for EDXL are to continue helping additional vendors understand and integrate the technology into their applications, and turn the design over to a standards body for formal adoption."

  • [October 28, 2004] "First Responder XML." By Diane Frank. In Federal Computer Week (October 28, 2004). "With almost every local jurisdiction and agency nationwide running different systems, officials hope a new data standard will help information-sharing programs overcome the differences between hardware and applications. The Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) is a proposed Extensible Markup Language standard specific to the emergency management and response community. Experts in the public and private sectors developed the standard as part of the Homeland Security Department's Disaster Management e-Government initiative. Showcasing the standard during a demonstration this week at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., officials from the Emergency Interoperability Consortium, DHS, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia emphasized the benefits of sharing alerts and information across a geographic region, regardless of a user's technology and applications. By better defining the information being shared and identifying the people and agencies involved, EDXL should help get around the problem of incompatible existing and proprietary systems, said Matt Walton, chairman of the consortium. Many groups are developing XML schemas for their unique purposes, such as the law enforcement community's Global Justice XML Data Model..."

  • [October 27, 2004] Emergency Data Interoperability Demonstration. EDXL Standards Issues. Summary Observations. October 27, 2004. From Comcare. See also the extract in the following entry. "The DM Initiative (DM), the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC), and ComCARE are promoting the Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) header as a proposed Extensible Markup Language standard for the emergency management and response community. On October 27th [2004], an interoperability demonstration was put together by several groups in the EIC to showcase the potential for sharing alerts and information across a geographic region, regardless of a user's technology and applications. Both during and after this effort, several implementation challenges were identified as developers attempted to translate the working group EDXL standard into integrated applications. Overall, while the data exchanged using EDXL (the 'what') added value to the effort there were many areas left to interpretation on the ways that each application supporting EDXL could pass data back and forth (the 'how'). The varying interpretations increased the development time required to connect applications together and reduced any investments in code reuse. This document provides additional details regarding the issues encountered while trying to prepare for the demonstration..." [source .DOC]

  • [October 27, 2004] "Emergency Data Interoperability Demonstration." Report provided by David Aylward (ComCARE Alliance Director) in contribution Background on EDXL Messaging Process, submitted to ATIS ESIF 'XML Contributions Page' on February 15, 2005. Document date: October 27, 2004. 4 pages. Also available from George Washington University.

    "On October 27 [2004], the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC), along with the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute and the ComCARE Alliance, sponsored an emergency data interoperability demonstration. Technology vendors serving the emergency response community developed interfaces using the recently developed XML-based Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) message 'header' to demonstrate information exchange among agencies in the national capital area. Using standardized interfaces and common message sets, the participants demonstrated how a group of crossjurisdictional government and emergency response agencies can effectively generate, receive, and update emergency messages in real-time — quickly and inexpensively... Among the event's distinguished speakers was Steve Cooper, Chief Information Officer for the Department of Homeland Security, who engaged the audience in an interactive question and answer session.

    The Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Project: Many individual constituencies within the emergency response community have been working within their own professions to develop and adopt standards for emergency data exchange. Unfortunately, many of these individual standards are often inconsistent with those of other emergency response organizations. This creates a significant problem when data exchange is needed between constituencies and across jurisdictions, as it often is in daily and mass emergencies. The need for data interoperability using common standards has been identified as a key issue by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through OMB's Disaster Management eGov Initiative. DHS is facilitating a process, organized by the ComCARE Alliance, to bring together leaders of key emergency organizations that have been developing specialized XML standards for their individual professions. The project's goal is to coordinate the requirements definition and the data set content for emergency information sharing between these professions. Participants from various XML data initiatives representing law enforcement, public safety, EMS, emergency medicine, emergency management and transportation are involved in the project. Their involvement is important because they bring knowledge of existing data initiatives such as the Global Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM), the IEEE ITS Incident Management (IM or 1512) Initiative, the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) standard recently issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and EMS groups, 9-1-1 standards, and emergency management standards being developed by the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) and OASIS. The project is using a phased approach. The first phase included the development of a draft message 'header' specification to be added 'in front of' emergency XML messages of all kinds. Its core use is in message routing. Any properly formatted XML message (e.g., Common Alerting Protocol; Amber Alert) can be a 'payload', the actual message content within the header. Subsequent phases include the careful review of profession-specific 'data dictionaries' to develop a list of 'common terms' that can be used across professions. These terms, in turn, will be used to populate additional standards that are planned for development in later phases of the project...

    Participating organizations included Blue 292, ComCARE Alliance, DICE Corporation, DisasterHelp, Disaster Management, Emergency Interoperability Consortium, ESI, E Team, Fire Monitoring Technologies International Inc, The GWU Homeland Security Policy Institute, Maryland Institute for EMS Systems, Maryland Interoperability Initiative, MyStateUSA, Proxicom, SDI, Towson University, Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, Xybernaut..."

  • [September 23, 2004] Emergency Data Exchange Language Standard Message Format. Early draft (9/23/2004) later superseded. "This draft describes a standard messaging framework for data sharing among emergency information systems using the XML-based Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL). While based on the SOAP messaging standard, this format may be used over any data transmission system, including but not limited to the SOAP HTTP binding... The EDXL Standard Message Format (SMF) comprises a SOAP 1.2 message with an optional <Header> containing a <Distribution> element as described hereafter, and a <Body> containing some standard XML message type recognized in EDXL. The <Distribution> element asserts the originator's intent as to the dissemination of that particular message..." [included in a ZIP archive contribution Background on EDXL Messaging Process [EISI-009], submitted to ATIS ESIF 'XML Contributions Page' on February 15, 2005 by David Aylward]
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