Grandpa Ham – Grandpa Can do IT!

• Love the term "self-inflicted denial of service attack" to describe some security policy. #ogi #
• Interfaces for using standards based exchange of emergency information. See http://www.disasterhelp.gov/disastermanagement/open #ogi #
• DM-OPEN is simple. Multiple emergency management messaging standards supported by a total of two interface functions. #ogi #
• Good enough is Good enough. (most of the time) #ogi #
• For a view that is in contradiction to OGI Conference view of data.gov go to: http://www.ijis.org/EDblog/ — #ogi #
• Me experience is that competition often means "Who has the overhead space to absorb the proposal wins the competition." Smalls must sub only #
• #NIEM based Substitution Groups and abstract Representation elements can be used to avoid concept duplication when adding outside content. #

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• OPEN Alert, Cell Cast Alert – TEST ALERT ONLY!! High Water on Bull Run Road #
• OPEN Alert, Alert – TEST ALERT ONLY!! High Water on Route 1 at Rappahannock River Bridge #
• OPEN Alert, Previstar Alert -TEST ALERT ONLY!! – High Water on Route 620 at Kellys Ford #
• RT @trevbhatt thinks it is a dishonor to billy may's memory that the new oxy clean commercials are narrated by a pleasant-voiced woman. #

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I have been studying the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) fairly extensively over the last few weeks. I have even read the NIEM Naming and Design Rules document from beginning to end. I will admit that I went into it with something of a jaundiced view.  As a veteran contributor to the DoD data model and an outside observer of the GJXDM (recently), and a large scale IBM model (a long time ago), I have real reservations about the usability and maintainability of any all-knowing, all-seeing model.  I have, at least at this point, become a believer in NIEM.  Why?   Because NIEM accepts the notion that a federation between separately name-spaced models makes sense, both within NIEM, and with external standards defined outside the heavy NIEM NDR discipline (or defined with a different heavy discipline).   The notion of defining an Adapter for NIEM use of other standards is a brilliant concept.  This, combined with the Information Exchange Package Documentation (IEPD) methodology for documenting the contextual use of data used in exchanges has made me a fan.

The problem with this “federation of standards” concept is that it makes tools (and “auto-magic” validation) harder to build.  As a result there is a tendency to try and force all of the standards back into the all-knowing, all-seeing model. It is a seductive idea, but not a good idea.  Let’s look at a very simple example: EDXL Resource Management uses the Customer Information Quality (CIQ standard) for Person Names. This allows internationalization for all kinds of different Naming structures and for a wide variety of Addressing schemes.  NIEM (as a national model) is much more U.S. centric, particularly in the use of PersonName tag. Both CIQ and NIEM are appropriate in their respective namespaces (and the NIEM NDR respects this fact by allowing for the adapter wrapper for external standards).   If we try to combine the two standards by defining CIQ elements as NIEM elements directly in order to make the subschema generator work more easily, we blur important distinctions that were developed for good reason.

So, we need to use NIEM IEPD methods. They are excellent. But we must resist the desire to force single definitions for concepts that may appear to be the same, but actually differ due to the context in which they were defined.  In other words, do not force a merger of conceptual domains, unless they actually are the same.  NIEM lets us federate in the building of an IEPD.   We should take advantage of that capability.

• For those with Bible study backgrounds: Reading the NIEM Naming and Design Rules is like reading Leviticus in the Old Testament. #
• @trevbhatt Worse than King James. Think of crossing of super geek data concepts with IRS tax law (like Leviticus mixes tax and life rules) in reply to trevbhatt #
• For those who may wonder based on previous tweets – I do think NIEM style IEPDs make a lot of sense. They actually make NIEM valuable. #
• Just completed the online coursework for the NIEM Practical Implementers Course. Good material. You need to know XML Schema well first. #
• The Capstone Exercise for NIEM appears to include an incomplete subset schema compared to what the instructions say. Makes it hard to do. #
• @NIEMExecDir My objective in taking the NIEM coursework and reading the entire NDR is to make EDXL/NIEM work together. – OASIS EM-TC founder in reply to NIEMExecDir #

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Interesting phenomena.  I put out a tweet likening the NIEM Naming and Design Rules Document to a cross between Leviticus and IRS regulations.  Almost immediately, I was followed by 1) a Bible Study Group asking for money 2) a NIEM consultant, and 3) a Tax Consultant.  Apparently they each have some sort of bot in place that looks for key words. They then follow in tthe hope of being followed.  It worked for the NIEM consultant, not the others. Shortly thereafter, I was folowed by ithe IJIS Institute, a justice related non-profit with a strong interest in NIEM.  I now follow them as well.

• Sitting in a Starbucks in Down town DC – waiting for a 1400 meeting to start. The drive home will be hell tonight. #

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