Global justice XML tightens the net

"Incompatible databases and computer systems for many years have limited the ability of Federal, state, tribal, and local agencies to rapidly and efficiently share justice information," states John Wandelt, senior research scientist with the Georgia Tech Research Institute, Atlanta. "The Global Justice XML Data Model [which recently was released in Version 3.0 for use by software developers] is sponsored by the Office of Justice Programs, which is the agency within the Department of Justice that administers Federal funding designed to support justice information sharing between local, state, and tribal jurisdictions.

"The initiative is designed to provide a way to translate information between different systems, allowing a more efficient flow of data among agencies that need to share information about potential criminal and terrorist activity."

Wandelt and other researchers in GTRI's Information Technology and Telecommunications Laboratory provided engineering support and technical guidance for the new system as part of a broad-based collaboration involving dozens of agencies and industry partners. The GJXDM initiative involves three major components: an object-oriented data model, a data dictionary, and XML schema specification.

The data model and dictionary are part of common "vocabulary" used by different computer systems to describe data objects to be shared. Employing these standardized definitions, software scripts automatically translate information as it passes from one system to another.

"By providing a common language and vocabulary, the XML initiative allows agencies to efficiently share data while continuing to maintain their own data and operate their own computer systems," Wandelt notes. "This avoids the cost and compatibility issues that would be involved in trying to develop a single unified national network. It also provides a foundation that individual agencies can use to develop compatible systems without having to reinvent key elements."

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