Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium(TM) Delivers New Tools
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ — The Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium(TM) (NCOIC) today announces its next set of network-centric operations interoperability deliverables — its first Protocol Functional Collection (PFC) and its Mobile Emergency Communications Interoperability (MECI) report. The Consortium is establishing the technical approaches that will support interoperability across all levels of government departments, from first responders and local authorities to regional- and national-level military services. The NCOIC’s approach complements major international government and industry architectural and reference model initiatives.
“The NCOIC is working collaboratively with stakeholders from governments, industry and academia globally to deliver products that are enabling government departments to operate on a ubiquitous and reliable network,” explains Lt. Gen Harry D. Raduege, Jr USAF (Ret) of Deloitte & Touche LLP, NCOIC executive council chair. “The Consortium continues to make substantial progress through industry and government working together to resolve the most pressing challenges in achieving system interoperability. Such interoperability is essential for ensuring our operational decision makers have access to critical information.”
The NCOIC’s first PFC prescribes standards for systems that intend to include “instant messaging (IM)” capability. The PFCs are key elements of the NCOIC Interoperability Framework (NIF), and address mission-specific as well as more general infrastructure guidance. This IM PFC is based upon the well-known standards for SIMPLE (Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions) and Jabber/XMPP (XML Messaging and Presence Protocol).
Sheryl Sizelove of Boeing and NCOIC Technical Council Chair states, “By using the IM PFC, system designers, architects and engineers can be assured of an interoperable and net-centric implementation of instant messaging.”
The Consortium’s MECI report is designed to improve information exchange amongst first responders, thereby more quickly and efficiently bringing aid and comfort to victims of natural or man-made complex humanitarian disasters (CHD). The NCOIC’s approach to the challenges of mobile emergency information networking leverages existing and emerging technologies to transition from an application-centric to an information-centric environment. This change in operational approach to information movement and management provides users access to applications and Web services through an Internet Protocol (IP) backbone. The MECI initiative is the first in a series of technically detailed reports being developed by the NCOIC to define the best standards and practices for information exchange in responses to CHDs.
“At NCW 2007, the NCOIC demonstrated the applicability of its MECI recommendations,” continues Sizelove. “By following the Consortium’s prescription, first responders can come together in an emergency situation and interoperate seamlessly across diverse commercial products.”
The PFC and MECI report are being made publicly available at http://www.ncoic.org/. These new products complement the NIF and the Network Centric Analysis Tool (NCAT) delivered within the past six months. This illustrates the Consortium’s frequent contributions to enabling governments to realize the promise of a network-centric environment.
About NCOIC
The Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC) is a not-for-profit international corporation committed to integrating existing and emerging open standards into a common evolving global framework, employing a common set of principles and processes, to assist with the rapid global deployment of network-centric applications. Established in 2004, the NCOIC consists of representatives from defense companies, large-scale systems integrators, information technology providers, government agencies, and academia working in concert with advisory bodies consisting of government officials, standards groups and other stakeholders. For more information, visit http://www.ncoic.org/
Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium
CONTACT: Kim Gibbons of Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium,+1-408-525-4909, or kim.gibbons@ncoic.org; or Gareth Jones, +33 6 07 33 92 90,or gareth.jones@thalesgroup.com, for Network Centric Operations IndustryConsortium
Web site: http://www.ncoic.org/