Justice XML Standards Initiative

1. Justice XML Standards Initiative U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Briefing to XML.GOV September 19, 2001

2. Justice and Public Safety Constituencies Criminal Justice: law enforcement, courts, corrections, prosecutors, public defenders, probation and parole Public Safety: criminal justice, fire and emergency services Public Safety Related: education, social services, transportation, welfare, etc.

3. Global Criminal Justice Information Network Federal Advisory Committee �Group of Groups� Organizational Structure Outreach Committee Privacy Working Group Security Working Group Infrastructure/Standards Working Group

4. Infrastructure/Standards Working Group (ISWG) Policy and technical participation Process for managing standards Standards policy recommendations to the Justice Department (Office of Justice Programs) XML Focus

5. Need for Justice Standards Practitioner demand Emergence of overlapping initiatives Increasing demand for information sharing Emergence of architectures Potential for XML Tower of �Babble�

6. Response to the Need Leverage GLOBAL links Exploit practitioner demand Take advantage of �Time is Right� Peaking practitioner interest Funding and staff resource availability Bring together willing parties Take leadership role

7. Assumptions The Justice community will respond to a voluntary program rich in content before they will respond to mandates Primary responsibility of the Justice Department is to promote information sharing, promote appropriate standards development, and facilitate coordination of efforts -- NOT to develop standards Standards efforts are driven by business problems, not technical or national agendas

8. Standards Processes Identification, development and/or staging process Submission process Verification process Automated notification process Validation process Maintenance process

9. Characteristics of Standards Program Practitioner friendly Process driven Dynamic in nature Cyclical characteristics Repository centric Web resident Program (business) orientation Tangible results Value add

10. XML Objectives Facilitate sharing of justice information and integration of justice information systems Establish �ground floor� standards Guide and assist justice and public safety information systems developers Further other efforts to share information

11. Major XML Initiatives Criminal Histories (Rap Sheets) Based on NIST standard FBI, States, NLETS, SEARCH Law Enforcement Intelligence Regional Information Sharing Systems Electronic Court Filing LegalXML and NCSC

12. Rap Sheet Standardization Previously, each state and the FBI had their own rap sheet format Recipients of rap sheets from more than one source (e.g., in the case of a multi-state offender) received multiple reports in multiple formats Standardized Rap Sheet, when fully implemented, will provide a single, complete response in a consistent format

13. Law Enforcement Intelligence Regional Information Sharing Systems The RISS XML Specifications were created to allow dissimilar systems to communicate criminal intelligence information

14. Electronic Court Filing The Court Filing Specification provides a mechanism for attorneys and other users of the court systems to electronically transmit and file court documents in active cases.

15. Starting Point, June 2001 Three specifications for three significantly different business needs Rap Sheet Standardization Intelligence XML Specifications Court Filing Standards Each group had developed an XML specification tailored to their own business processes Each group approached development and implementation of XML specifications differently

16. Participants Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Dept. of Justice Global Infrastructure and Standards Working Group (ISWG) U.S. Dept. of Commerce: NIST and NTIA National Center for State Courts (NCSC) LegalXML Law Enforcement Intelligence Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) Joint Task Force on Rap Sheets (FBI, States, NLETS and SEARCH

17. Reconciliation, Part 1 Developed principles for XML implementations and reconciliations Began reconciliation of the three XML implementations

18. Reconciliation (personName)

19. Reconciliation, Parts 2 and 3 Completed reconciliation effort Conflicts among the three specifications have been eliminated Significant byproducts Report of lessons learned during reconciliation XML standard development principles XML Justice Data Dictionary (128 data elements)

20. XML Reconciliation Report Principles for Development of XML Specs Procedures for Development of XML Specs Guidelines used in the reconciliation effort Tag Names Inclusion Policy Extension Policy Data Format (UTC-8) Acceptable Abbreviations and Acronyms Draft XML Data Dictionary (128 Elements)

21. Next Steps Institutionalize Standards Process (Including Budget) Establish Justice Standards Registry Program Submit Reconciled XML Specs (3) for Inclusion in Registry Identify new XML Candidates for the Process Enter XML Data Dictionary into Standards Registry Program

22. Next Steps Incorporate Standards Activities into OJP/Global Web Site (www.it.ojp.gov) Promote the XML Standards Program (Outreach) Continue to Support the development of information sharing standards with emphasis on XML Publish and disseminate the XML Reconciliation Report (lessons learned)

23. Justice Standards Registry

24. Web Page Office of Justice Programs U.S. Department of Justice Information Technology Initiative http://www.it.ojp.usdoj User: Testit Password: Testit

25. Contacts Program Manager: Pat McCreary (202) 616-0532; mccrearj@ojp.usdoj.gov Senior Policy Advisor: Bob Greeves (202) 305-9317; greevesr@ojp.usdoj.gov Standards Expert: D.J. Atkinson/NTIA (303) 497-5281; dj@its.bldrdoc.gov