MTG provides the following services to assist state and local government agencies in the development and implementation of their information sharing architectures:
- Integration Program/Project Management
- Scoping and stakeholder engagement
- Requirements facilitation
- Procurement/acquisition of standards-based solutions
- NIEM Training
- Technical Architecture Development
- Enterprise architecture (e.g., TOGAF)
- Enterprise data modeling (e.g., UML)
- Development of XML and web service specifications
- Quality Assurance
- Verification of conformance with NIEM and NIEM-based standards
MTG has supported the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) and its predecessor, the Global Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM), as frameworks for standards-based information sharing since 2002. Over the years, MTG has developed dozens of NIEM and GJXDM-based specifications, enterprise data models, and open standards. From that experience, we have developed and refined methodologies and tooling for developing and implementing NIEM-based architectures.
In the course of our deep experience, we have found the following:
- Enterprises need common data models and interface specifications.
- Internal models enable
- Interface and code reuse inside an organization
- Avoidance of lock-in to proprietary APIs.
- External models enable
- Exchange with stakeholders in other domains
- Interface reuse with additional stakeholders in the future without refactoring.
- Internal models enable
- NIEM supports domain-independent data models but is large and complex.
- Reference Model includes thousands of elements.
- Naming and Design Rules require training to fully understand.
- Other NIEM tooling options do not provide a complete solution.
- NIEM-UML Profile does not reduce the learning curve.
- NIEM architectures need to support the full development life cycle.
In response, MTG has developed a methodology for addressing these issues:
- As needed, scope and establish an enterprise architecture based on TOGAF
- Facilitate and model architecture and interface requirements using UML
- Map requirements to NIEM and web service architectures
- Develop NIEM XML and web service interface specifications
- Assist in the acquisition/implementation of solutions that conform to the specifications
- Validate conformance of the solutions to the specifications
In addition, MTG has developed UML-based tooling for developing and managing NIEM architectures called niem-tools.
