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| News: Cover Stories |  |  |
| Charter Proposed for OASIS Emergency Management Adoption Technical Committee. |
Contents
OASIS members have published a Proposed Charter for new Technical Committee to support adoption of emergency management specifications. The draft charter for the OASIS Emergency Management (EM) Adoption Technical Committee identifies the goal as one of collaboration "to provide expertise and resources to educate the marketplace on the value of the Emergency Management OASIS Standards. By raising awareness of the benefits offered by OASIS Emergency Management Standards (CAP and EDXL), the Emergency Management Adoption TC expects to increase the demand for, and availability of, CAP and EDXL conforming products and services, resulting in a greater choice of tools and platforms and an expanded community of EM standards users, suppliers, and consultants."
Supporters of the proposed charter include representatives from CellCast Technologies, Contra Costa County Community Warning System, ESI Acquisition, Evolution Technologies, IEM, Lockheed Martin, OSS Nokalva, Starbourne Communications Design, Verizon, viaRadio Corporation, and Warning Systems.
The OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee has produced four OASIS Standards, including Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) Version 1.1, Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Distribution Element Version 1.0, Emergency Data Exchange Language Resource Messaging (EDXL-RM) 1.0, and Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Hospital AVailability Exchange (HAVE) Version 1.0. The proposed OASIS Emergency Management Adoption Technical Committee will refer suggestions and requests for changes to and clarification of the CAP, EDXL, and any other OASIS EM specifications to the Emergency Management Technical Committee.
The OASIS Emergency Management (EM) Adoption Technical Committee will carry forward and expand upon the efforts of the existing [2009-03]
Emergency Management [Implementation] Adoption Subcommittee, which was formed to "support the adoption of standards to enable information exchange which advance incident preparedness and response to emergency situations."
[Extracted from the complete text of the Proposed Charter announcement.]
Contents
Proposed Charter: OASIS Emergency Management Adoption Technical Committee
(1)(a) TC Name
OASIS Emergency Management (EM) Adoption Technical Committee
(1)(b) Statement of Purpose
The OASIS Emergency Management Adoption TC members will collaborate to
provide expertise and resources to educate the marketplace on the value of
the Emergency Management OASIS Standards. By raising awareness of the
benefits offered by OASIS Emergency Management Standards (CAP and EDXL), the
Emergency Management Adoption TC expects to increase the demand for, and
availability of, CAP and EDXL conforming products and services, resulting in
a greater choice of tools and platforms and an expanded community of EM
standards users, suppliers, and consultants.
Since EM adoption is strong in the US and growing in the rest of the world,
especially the European Union, the Technical Committee will actively solicit
participation from non-US members and help to facilitate providing
information promoting CAP and EDXL adoption globally.
The Emergency Management Adoption TC intends to appoint an individual who is
an active, voting member of this TC to serve as a liaison to the OASIS
Emergency Management TC, to actively communicate the work of the Emergency
Management Adoption TC, and to request the assistance of the Emergency
Management TC on technical issues concerning specifications. Through the
liaison, the Emergency Management Adoption TC is encouraged to bring issues
to the Emergency Management TC concerning user needs in improving
specifications. The Emergency Management TC is encouraged to bring issues to
the Emergency Management Adoption TC concerning the use cases or user
scenarios around proposed changes and enhancements to the specification, as
well as suggestions for other adoption-related work.
By advancing the adoption of CAP and EDXL, and other OASIS Emergency
Management specifications, the Emergency Management Adoption TC will:
Collaborate within the security of the OASIS open process Maximize message credibility by working on behalf of a vendor-neutral standards consortium Build on existing market awareness of OASIS as the producer of EM standards Leverage the combined resources of all participants Reinforce the benefits of adopting CAP, EDXL, and any other OASIS EM specification, as they are the result of an open, transparent process guided by multiple vendors, communities, and individuals Openly share content and coordinate program execution with other entities that share a common or similar statement of purpose on a worldwide scope Actively solicit participation from members outside North America and help to facilitate the provision of information promoting CAP, EDXL, and any other OASIS EM specification adoption globally
(1)(c) Scope of Work
OASIS Emergency Management Adoption Technical Committee activities may extend to any of the following activities:
Provide support for the OASIS Emergency Interoperability (EI) Member Section website Review and ensure accuracy of CAP, EDXL and any other OASIS EM specification references in commonly used resources such as Wikipedia Host educational, vendor-neutral webinars Organize vendor-neutral workshops and tracks at OASIS events and other conferences Produce OASIS-branded primers, white papers, and position papers, slide presentations, datasheets, and other collateral materials Develop best practice guidelines Establish liaisons, according to the OASIS Liaison Policy, with other organizations who may assist in building awareness of CAP, EDXL and any other OASIS EM specifications, and promoting these OASIS Standards in a variety of user communities Assist in coordinating promotional efforts of members, leveraging activities wherever beneficial Assist in coordinating press and analyst relations such as briefings, releases, and announcements with the support of OASIS staff and in accordance with the OASIS Media Relations Policy Work with other OASIS technical committees to mutually promote related work with standards, best practices and other documentation from those TCs. Encourage and coordinate volunteer efforts to translate the CAP, EDXL, and any other OASIS EM specifications and other committee documents into other languages Interface with other OASIS TCs to define how CAP, EDXL, and any other OASIS EM specification can be best integrated with other standards to address specific scenarios Stage interoperability and/or proof-of-concept demonstrations at industry conferences Support efforts by other organizations to develop active testing and certification programs for conformance, interoperability and reliability Other projects aimed at increasing adoption as identified by Committee Members Other activities that are considered appropriate to forwarding the goals of the Technical Committee
The OASIS Emergency Management Adoption Technical Committee will refer suggestions and requests for changes to and clarification of the CAP, EDXL, and any other OASIS EM specifications to the Emergency Management Technical Committee.
(1)(d) List of Deliverables
- First best practice issued within six (6) months of formation
- First webinar produced jointly with the Emergency Management Technical Committee and sponsored by OASIS
- Ongoing maintenance of the OASIS Emergency Interoperability (EI) Member Section website
- Additional materials supportive of the above scope
The OASIS Emergency Management Adoption Technical Committee is an ongoing activity with no specific end date for its activities established in advance.
(1)(e) OASIS IPR Mode
Royalty-Free on limited terms
(1)(f) Anticipated Audience/Users
Anyone involved in the implementation of the CAP, EDXL, and any other EM OASIS Standards in their own organizations, including government agencies, public safety organizations and associations, information-development managers, consultants supporting implementations, and vendors providing tools to support public alerts, emergency management and disaster management.
(1)(g) Language
Language in which the TC will conduct business:
English
Additional Information
Non-normative information regarding the startup of the TC, which includes:
(2)(a) Similar Work
Identification of similar or applicable work that is being done in other OASIS TCs or by other organizations, why there is a need for another effort in this area and how this proposed TC will be different, and what level of liaison will be pursued with these other organizations:
The Emergency Management Adoption Technical Committee is closely allied with the OASIS Emergency Management TC. The Emergency Management TC is responsible for the development, maintenance, and enhancement of the CAP and EDXL specifications. As such, the Emergency Management TC concentrates on clearly defining and developing the technical content of the specification. It also supports the work of several subcommittees.
The Emergency Management Adoption TC concentrates on the promotion of the CAP, EDXL, and any other OASIS EM standards to the global user community, helping to encourage adoption of Emergency Management OASIS Standards in additional industries, additional organizations and additional countries. To this end, the Emergency Management Adoption TC's focus is on building public awareness of the CAP, EDXL, and any other OASIS EM standards, educating potential users in these standards and providing documents that enable broader implementation of these standards.
The Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) is a non-OASIS, not-for-profit organization that has been actively working with the OASIS Emergency Management TC to help in identify user requirements and promoting the work of the OASIS Emergency Management TC. The Emergency Management Adoption TC intends to continue this relationship and will coordinate promotional activities with the EIC as appropriate.
The Emergency Management Adoption TC intends to appoint an individual who is an active, voting member of both TCs to serve as a liaison to the Emergency Management TC, to actively communicate the work of the Adoption TC, and to request the assistance of the Emergency Management TC on technical issues concerning the specification. Through the liaison, the Emergency Management Adoption TC may bring issues to the Emergency Management TC concerning user needs in improving the specification.
The Emergency Management TC will be encouraged to bring issues to the Emergency Management Adoption TC concerning the use cases or user scenarios around proposed changes and enhancements to the specification, as well as suggestions for other adoption-related work. The Emergency Management Adoption TC will also identify any related efforts in other organizations and establish appropriate liaisons with these organizations as needed.
(2)(b) First Meeting
The date, time, and location of the first meeting, whether it will be held in person or by telephone, and who will sponsor this first meeting:
- 1-May-2009 12:00 pm EST as a teleconference call
- The TC will use a free conference service for its teleconferences
(2)(c) Meeting Schedule
The projected ongoing meeting schedule for the year following the formation of the TC, or until the projected date of the final deliverable, whichever comes first, and who will be expected to sponsor these meetings:
The Emergency Management Adoption TC plans to hold regular bi-weekly conference calls unless increased work requires more frequent calls. The Emergency Management Adoption TC will decide on a future date for a face-to-face meeting, and will coordinate such meetings with the Emergency Management TC.
(2)(d) Supporters
The names, electronic mail addresses, and membership affiliations of at least Minimum Membership who support this proposal and are committed to the Charter and projected meeting schedule:
- Paul Klein, paul.klein@cellcastcorp.com, CellCast Technologies
- Art Botterell, ABott@so.cccounty.us, Contra Costa County Community Warning System
- Dean Reese, dreese@esi911.com, ESI Acquisition, Inc.
- Tim Grapes, tgrapes@evotecinc.com, Evolution Technologies Inc.
- Lee Tincher, ltincher@evotecinc.com, Evolution Technologies Inc.
- Werner Joerg, Werner.Joerg@ieminc.com, IEM
- Thomas Ferrentino, tferrentino@verizon.net, Individual
- Rex Brooks, rexb@starbourne.com, Individual
- Tom Merkle, Tom.Merkle@lmco.com, Lockheed Martin
- Alessandro Triglia, sandro@oss.com, OSS Nokalva
- James Trawick, JimTrawick@viaRadio.com, viaRadio Corporation
- Patrick Gannon, pgannon@warningsystems.com, Warning Systems, Inc.
- Elysa Jones, ejones@warningsystems.com, Warning Systems, Inc.
- Jacob Westfall, jake@jpw.biz, Individual
(2)(e) Convenor
The name of the Convenor who must be an Eligible Person:
Thomas Ferrentino, tferrentino@verizon.net
(2)(f) OASIS Member Section
The name of the Member Section with which the TC intends to affiliate, if any:
The Emergency Management Adoption TC intends to affiliate with the OASIS Emergency Interoperability Member Section. The Emergency Management Adoption TC will also appoint a TC member to serve on the Emergency Interoperability MS Steering Committee as defined in the Emergency Interoperability MS Rules of Procedure.
(2)(g) Initial Contributions
Optionally, a list of contributions of existing technical work that the proposers anticipate will be made to this TC:
None
(2)(h) Draft FAQ Document
Optionally, a draft Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document regarding the planned scope of the TC, for posting on the TC's website:
To be provided at a later date
(2)(i) Proposed Specification Title
Optionally, a proposed working title and acronym for the specification(s) to be developed by the TC:
None
Members of the OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee have produced the following specifications:
Common Alerting Protocol, Version 1.1. OASIS Standard CAP-V1.1. October 2005. Edited by Elysa Jones (Warning Systems, Inc) and Art Botterell (Individual). "The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is a simple but general format for exchanging all-hazard
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...
The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) provides an open, non-proprietary digital message format for all types of alerts and notifications. It does not address any particular application or telecommunications method. The CAP format is compatible with emerging techniques, such as Web services, as well as existing formats including the Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) used for the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio and the Emergency Alert System (EAS), while offering enhanced capabilities that include:
- Flexible geographic targeting using latitude/longitude shapes and other geospatial representations in three dimensions
- Multilingual and multi-audience messaging
- Phased and delayed effective times and expirations
- Enhanced message update and cancellation features
- Template support for framing complete and effective warning messages
- Compatible with digital encryption and signature capability
- Facility for digital images and audio
Key benefits of CAP will include reduction of costs and operational complexity by eliminating the need for
multiple custom software interfaces to the many warning sources and dissemination systems involved in all-hazard warning. The CAP message format can be converted to and from the 'native' formats of all kinds of sensor and alerting technologies, forming a basis for a technology-independent national and international 'warning internet'.... Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Distribution Element, Version 1.0. OASIS Standard EDXL-DE v1.0. May 01, 2006.
Edited by Michelle Raymond (Individual), Sylvia Webb (Individual), and Patti Iles Aymond (IEM, Inc).
"This Distribution Element specification describes a standard message distribution framework for data
sharing among emergency information systems using the XML-based Emergency Data Exchange
Language (EDXL). This format may be used over any data transmission system, including but not
limited to the SOAP HTTP binding...
The primary purpose of the Distribution Element is to facilitate the routing of any properly formatted XML
emergency message to recipients. The Distribution Element may be thought of as a 'container'. It
provides the information to route 'payload' message sets (such as Alerts or Resource Messages), by
including key routing information such as distribution type, geography, incident, and sender/recipient IDs...
The the EDXL project 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. Just as a data-focused effort targets shared data elements, the EDXL process looks for shared message needs, which are common across a broad number of organizations. 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.
EDXL is intended as a suite of emergency data message types including resource queries and requests, situation status, message routing instructions and the like, needed in the context of cross-disciplinary, cross-jurisdictional communications related to emergency response... Emergency Data Exchange Language Resource Messaging (EDXL-RM) 1.0. OASIS Standard. November 01,2008. Edited by Patti Aymond (Individual) Rex Brooks (Individual), Tim Grapes (DHS Disaster Management Interoperability Service), Gary Ham (Individual), Renato Iannella (National ICT Australia - NICTA), Karen Robinson (National ICT Australia - NICTA), Werner Joerg (IEM, Inc), Alessandro Triglia (OSS Nokalva, Inc).
"This XML-based Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Resource Messaging specification describes a suite of standard messages for data sharing among emergency and other information systems that deal in requesting and providing emergency equipment, supplies, people and teams. This format may be used over any data transmission system, including but not limited to the SOAP HTTP binding...
The primary purpose of the Emergency Data Exchange Language Resource Messaging (EDXL-RM) Specification is to provide a set of standard formats for XML emergency response messages. These Resource Messages are specifically designed as payloads of Emergency Data Exchange Language Distribution Element- (EDXL-DE)-routed messages. Together EDXL-DE and EDXL-RM are intended to expedite all activities associated with resources needed to respond and adapt to emergency incidents. The Distribution Element may be thought of as a "container". It provides the information to route "payload" message sets (such as Alerts or Resource Messages), by including key routing information such as distribution type, geography, incident, and sender/recipient IDs. The Resource Message is constrained to the set of Resource Message Types contained in this specification. The Resource Message is intended to be the payload or one of the payloads of the Distribution Element which contains it... Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Hospital AVailability Exchange (HAVE) Version 1.0. OASIS Standard. November 01, 2008. Edited by Sukumar Dwarkanath (Associate Member).
This Hospital AVailability Exchange (HAVE) describes a standard message for data sharing among emergency information systems using the XML-based Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL). This format may be used over any data transmission system, including but not limited to the SOAP HTTP binding...
In a disaster or emergency situation, there is a need for hospitals to be able to communicate with each other, and with other members of the emergency response community. The ability to exchange data in regard to hospitals' bed availability, status, services, and capacity enables both hospitals and other emergency agencies to respond to emergencies and disaster situations with greater efficiency and speed. In particular, it will allow emergency dispatchers and managers to make sound logistics decisions — where to route victims, which hospitals have the ability to provide the needed service. Many hospitals have expressed the need for, and indeed are currently using, commercial or self-developed information technology that allows them to publish this information to other hospitals in a region, as well as EOCs, 9-1-1 centers, and EMS responders via a Web-based tool...
This HAVE standard was designed taking the following requirements into account:
- Allow medical and healthcare organizations to communicate their status and availability information
- Be designed to allow its use by a wide variety of medical and healthcare organizations (including hospitals and nursing homes), along with other emergency response organizations (such as emergency management centers, public safety answering points, and dispatch centers)
- Be able to be used as a payload or content element with the EDXL Distribution Element
- Allow the communication of status information of one or more organizations in a single exchange
- Allow the communication of the organization's status and availability information with regard to its facilities, operations, services, and resources
- Be designed to allow its use in normal operations, day-to-day emergencies and mass disasters
The OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee was chartered in January 2003 to "to design, develop, and release XML Schema-based standards that begin to solve real-world problems arising in natural and man-made disasters.
According to the TC's Statement of Purpose: "Across the nation, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and private sector emergency management offices use a wide array of software platforms for managing data about emergency conditions, resources and response activities. Most of these are stand-alone systems with limited capability for data sharing with other agencies or other levels of government.
Advances in information technology have paralleled the movement toward more integrated approaches to emergency management. In particular, the emergence of service-oriented architectures has created new opportunities for interoperability among diverse emergency information systems utilizing existing industry-standard technologies. At the same time, other data communication facilities, such as digital television and radio broadcasting, are being brought to bear on the challenges of emergency information exchange.
Application of these technologies to the emergency management domain requires the design and refinement of new standards for data structures and message-exchange processes. The purpose of this Technical Committee is to design, develop, and release XML-based standards that provide a framework for interoperability among diverse emergency information systems..."
The Emergency Management Technical Committee has created several Subcommittees:
- EM Adoption SC supports the adoption of standards to enable information exchange which advance incident preparedness and response to emergency situations
- EM CAP Profiles SC was formed to review the DHS FEMA/IPAWS "Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) v1.1 Profile Requirements" document to refine and formalize technical specifications and create an "IPAWS Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) Version 1.1 Profile", in order to support CAP within the U.S. Emergency Alert System (EAS)
- EM GIS SC ensures the proper use and integration of these geographic standards into the development of Emergency Management interoperability standard.
- EM Infrastructure Framework SC produces a horizontal intellectual effort predicated on establishing a common set of EM infrastructure standards, regardless of originating industry and/or agency segment
- EM Messages and Notification SC addresses procedures and formats for exchanging new and updated information related to functions including public safety, emergency response and homeland security
- EM Reference Information Model SC conducts the work of creating the EDXL-RIM specification. The purpose of the EDXL-RIM specification is to provide a high-level, abstract, information model for the family of EDXL specifications
- Proposed Charter for OASIS Emergency Management (EM) Adoption TC
- Adoption TC Charter Proposal Announcement (source):
- Earlier Adoption TC Charter proposal drafts:
- OASIS Emergency Management Adoption Subcommittee [current]:
- OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee:
- OASIS Emergency Management Adoption Subcommittee [current]:
- OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee:
- XML and Emergency Management Standards:
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