INPUT attended the IJIS Institute 2010 Winter Industry Briefing and began the recap of the conference yesterday, January 12 with a brief overview of the IJIS Industry, and half of the speaker presentations. Today's blog will finish with the speaker presentation overviews, and will offer some analyst perspective on the information that was disclosed at the conference.

Bobbie Atristain with the Virginia Interoperability Picture for Emergency Response (VIPER) Project spoke about "Geospatial Mapping in Fusion Centers" in terms of Virginia's VIPER project. Ms. Atristain walked participants through the applications of the VIPER project, demonstrating what was done in emergency response necessary situations. Using over 400 data layers, the program allows staff to visualize, analyze, and query relevant information through an operational picture. Ms Atristain gave two real-life situations when VIPER was used, and demonstrated how a staffer used the technology to handle them. During President Obama's Presidential Inauguration, and Tropical Storm Hannah, VIPER was able to provide important geospatial intelligence. Ms. Atristain's presentation was very interesting, and the hopes that more states will implement this technology are high.

David Lewis, Senior Policy Advisor, from the U.S. Department of Justice's presentation was on the "Nationwide SAR Initiative (NSI)" and how State & Local governments can be involved. SAR is official documentation of observed behavior reasonably indicative of preoperational planning related to terrorism or other criminal activity, based on National Information Sharing Standards. For S&L, involvement in NSI is very important. Mr. Lewis emphasized that those people who are the end users; those making arrests on the street or routine traffic stops; are the ones who are most affected by the NSI. Site implementations on the S&L level can be leveraged by existing standards, and are economical, decentralized, and have local control.

Jeff Lindsey, N-DEx Unit Chief, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation gave an update on the "Law Enforcement N-DEx" or data exchange. The system is designed to provide criminal lifecycle information, as a national level aggregator. The system is receiving data from 16 systems representing 1,200 agencies so far. There are 65,115,114 records available at present, and that number is rapidly increasing. Currently the N-DEx is working on increment three; working with subject matter experts, and integrating ONE DOJ into the system.

Don Kennedy, Executive Director, New England State Police Information Network (NESPIN) presented information on the progress of the "Gang Intelligence Strategy Committee." The committee works with all aspects of Law Enforcement, and works to standardize gang definitions, and integrate into a national model. For example, different states define a gang as 3 members, 5 members or 7 members. The committee is currently working for nationally recognized definitions, and data collection to determine the next course of action. Mr. Kennedy expressed hopes that a finalized national model will help to drastically decrease gang activity and violence due to the aggregation of diffuse information.

Tom O'Reilly, Senior Policy Advisor, from the U.S. Department of Justice presented the "Current State of Fusion Centers." The Department for Fusion Centers now lies within DHS. There are 72 Fusion Centers (50 state, 22 urban) recognized within the Department. Mr. O'Reilly explained that appropriations are the largest resource that funds the sustainment of Fusion Centers throughout the country. They are now migrating from law enforcement to fire, health and human services, the private sector, etc. The centers are becoming an entity that can identify all critical infrastructures. The Department directors are working to identify common searches with the hope of being able to bundle certain queries. By looking at this logic, a staffer would be able to save time. In terms of sustainability issues Mr. O'Reilly predicts that there will be more visibility in near future.

Christian Beckner, Majority Staff, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs gave the "Congressional view on information sharing." He explained that there has been a focus on working with the Executive Branch to implement information sharing. In the last couple of months, different situations, like Flight 253 or Fort Hood could have been prevented or helped with an information sharing arena. There is a significant change in the types of threats we are combating, and new directions need to be utilized to increase security. Mr. Beckner did confess that the budgetary situation is a difficult one. The FY2011 budget request will reflect critical versus important projects.

Information sharing and the integration of data sets at the state and national level have become one of the top initiatives in the public safety sector. From Emergency Response, like the VA VIPER Project and Alabama's Connect Project, to gathering criminal Intel (N-DEx, NSI), the mantra here is the broader picture. Due to the changing threats imposed on our government, like Professor Bronk illustrated, the Government's approach to thwarting those threats must change as well. From a state and local perspective, these new integration technologies and tactics are being embraced. Despite the fact that many states face a harsh budgetary situation; this analyst predicts that the participation in regional and national data sharing solutions will continue to grow. As for the Federal government, (we heard from the BJA and the Congressional perspective) they are learning how to integrate this new 'call to arms' within their own strategic plans for the upcoming years.

IJIS did a good job of selecting speakers that could represent many different avenues for new technology to thrive. Cloud computing will be a solution that will blossom due to the low costs associated and the diversity it can accommodate. Cloud Computing's location neutral characteristic also lends a hand to further interoperability efforts, easing the interactions of state-to-state or state-to-federal players.

Check back tomorrow for a further in-depth look at NIEM at the IJIS Winter Meeting.