NIEM expansion could require contractor support

As the National Information Exchange Model becomes more embedded within agencies as the technical basis for cross-organizational information exchange, its program management office is contemplating hiring a small business to support the model's expansion.

The fiscal 2011 budget passback from the Office of Management and Budget requires agencies to at least evaluate NIEM as a means for sharing information. In all, twelve agencies, including DHS and the Justice Department, currently make use of it; another seven are actively contemplating its adoption, according to government sources.

NIEM uses XML schemas to standardize core data components for exchange and allows other communities of interest to create mutually-intelligible data components specific to their communities. The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board utilized it for the creation of Recovery.gov and its proponents include the Health and Human Services Department.

In a request for information released Sept. 1, the NIEM program office says it might require a small business to support its activities going forward. Among the potential duties of the small business would be to create domain models and perform gap analysis and document extensions to the NIEM model.

Responses to the RFI are due by Sept. 7.

For more:
- go to the FBO page for the NIEM PMO RFI
- go to the NIEM PMO webpage

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