Fusion Center Technology Workshop a Success

July 6, 2010 - PRLog -- The second Fusion Center Technology Workshop was held June 8-9, 2010, in Cincinnati, Ohio. A fusion center is an effective and efficient mechanism to exchange information and intelligence, maximize resources, streamline operations, and improve the ability to fight crime and terrorism by merging data from a variety of sources. The Fusion Center Technology Workshop was sponsored by the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) and hosted by fusion center program representatives from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Program Manager – Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE).

The one-and-a-half day agenda offered a mix of presentations, panel discussions, hands-on learning laboratories, and open interactive forums that provided information and education on a variety technology topics and initiatives relevant to fusion center business needs.

Technology and operational representatives of 47 state, Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), and local fusion centers from around the country were in attendance. The workshop began with an open discussion of the critical fusion center operating capabilities for 2010 as defined by national fusion center leaders at their February 2010 conference. These capabilities included:

--Receiving classified/unclassified information from federal partners;
--Assessing local threats using a formal risk assessment process;
--Disseminating threat information; and
--Gathering, analyzing, and disseminating information to local, state, federal, tribal, and private stakeholders.

An expansive series of workshop sessions were then delivered by a combination of program and technology experts from the federal government, DOJ and DHS technical assistance partner organizations, and industry. These sessions focused on the critical operating capabilities as a foundation for discussion and prioritization of fusion center technology initiatives for 2010.  

Most notable was the announcement of the completion of the final Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) - “Terrorist Screening Center Encounter Information (TSCEI)” Service Specification Package (SSP). The TSCEI was developed in conformance with Global’s Justice Reference Architecture (JRA) services model, an information exchange solution designed to cut 80 percent of implementation time and costs for state and local justice agencies through reuse of established promising practices in IT architecture and design. Fusion centers will be able to use this specification to develop a standards-based solution for receiving information on positive hits against the Terrorist Watchlist. The TSCEI specification was presented in conjunction with three other SSPs recently completed for use by fusion centers, all using the JRA model and the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) standards. These specifications were completed through a collaborative effort led by the Services Task Team (STT) established by the Global Infrastructure/Standards Working Group (GISWG).

The workshop also included a two-hour, hands-on learning labs segment where ten fusion center technology solutions were demonstrated. Workshop attendees were able to gain hands-on views of technology solutions, including: collaboration tools, federated search, JRA SSP implementation, geospatial, and more.

The workshop concluded with an interactive technology forum where a panel of government and industry experts shared views via an active dialog with the audience on upcoming fusion center programs and projects, as well as relevant technologies on the horizon. Fusion center representatives returned home with new and important information to help them better align their active technology initiatives with the critical operational priorities.

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The IJIS Institute is a nonprofit organization that serves as the voice of industry, uniting the private and public sectors to improve mission-critical information sharing for those who protect and serve our communities. Find out more at www.ijis.org.