NIEMBridging Information Systems 
Case Study 
Texas Department of Public Safety 
NatioNal iNformatioN ExchaNgE modEl (NIEM) 
Synopsis 
This case study looks at the state of Texas’ adoption of NIEM on 
the Texas Path to NIEM project. 
TEXAS PATH TO NIEM CASE STUDY 
Executive Summary 
Challenge 
To coordinate the development and operation of justice systems 
maintained or managed by participating state and local justice 
entities using the NIEM standards to enable these systems to 
share information consistently and accurately in a manner that 
maximizes the services provided to justice information users in 
Texas. 
Solution 
Update the five-year-old Texas Justice Information Exchange 
Strategic Plan; develop NIEM 2.0-conformant Information 
Exchange Package Documents (IEPDs) for 28 high-priority 
information exchanges. 
Results 
Updated plan, reflecting current environment and direction; 28 
completed IEPDs ready for system implementation. 
Agency Overview 
The Texas Department of Public Safety provides public 
safety services to people in the state of Texas by enforcing 
laws, administering regulatory programs, managing records, 
educating the public, and managing emergencies, both 
directly and through interaction with other agencies. 
Challenge 
As Texas state and local information systems experience 
growing capabilities to share information electronically, 
statewide information sharing standards need to be in place 
to minimize duplicate efforts, facilitate semantic and technical 
consistency, and foster interoperability. This requires strategic 
planning to set direction and establish resource needs. It also 
requires short-term tactical development efforts to enable 
geared-up organizations to immediately move forward 
with information sharing implementations. Ultimately, the 
challenge is to coordinate the development and operation 
of justice systems maintained or managed by dozens and 
eventually hundreds of participating state and local justice 
entities using the NIEM standards to enable these systems to 
share information consistently and accurately in a manner that 
maximizes the services provided to justice information users in 
Texas. 
Solution 
The solution was to: 
Tackle the strategic challenge by updating the five-year- 
old Texas Justice Information Exchange Strategic Plan. 
Tackle the tactical challenge by developing NIEM 2.0- 
conformant Information Exchange Package Documents 
(IEPDs) for 28 high-priority information exchanges. 
Together, these two complementary efforts make up a project 
called the Texas Path to NIEM. 
To implement this solution, the Texas Department of Public 
Safety (DPS), the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (DCJ), 
and the Office of Court Administration (OCA), in coordination 
with the Texas Integrated Justice Information System (TIJIS) 
Advisory Committee, selected the Unisys Corporation to 
develop and create the Texas Path to NIEM. 
The solution was based on adoption of the NIEM standards 
and extension of those standards to meet Texas-specific 
business needs in a consistent manner across all information 
exchanges. The Texas stakeholders have been very receptive 
to using NIEM. They like being able to leverage an existing 
national standard to reduce development and implementation 
efforts, while at the same time having the capability to extend 
the standard to meet the specific business needs of Texas state 
and local government organizations. They also like the fact 
that NIEM expands beyond the justice domain to include a 
broader base of government exchange partners. 
In developing the Texas Justice Information Exchange 
Strategic Plan, a number of focus group meetings were 
NIEMBridging Information Systems 
Case Study 
Texas Department of Public Safety 
NatioNal iNformatioN ExchaNgE modEl (NIEM) 
Synopsis 
This case study looks at the state of Texas’ adoption of NIEM on 
the Texas Path to NIEM project. 
TEXAS PATH TO NIEM CASE STUDY 
Executive Summary 
Challenge 
To coordinate the development and operation of justice systems 
maintained or managed by participating state and local justice 
entities using the NIEM standards to enable these systems to 
share information consistently and accurately in a manner that 
maximizes the services provided to justice information users in 
Texas. 
Solution 
Update the five-year-old Texas Justice Information Exchange 
Strategic Plan; develop NIEM 2.0-conformant Information 
Exchange Package Documents (IEPDs) for 28 high-priority 
information exchanges. 
Results 
Updated plan, reflecting current environment and direction; 28 
completed IEPDs ready for system implementation. 
Agency Overview 
The Texas Department of Public Safety provides public 
safety services to people in the state of Texas by enforcing 
laws, administering regulatory programs, managing records, 
educating the public, and managing emergencies, both 
directly and through interaction with other agencies. 
Challenge 
As Texas state and local information systems experience 
growing capabilities to share information electronically, 
statewide information sharing standards need to be in place 
to minimize duplicate efforts, facilitate semantic and technical 
consistency, and foster interoperability. This requires strategic 
planning to set direction and establish resource needs. It also 
requires short-term tactical development efforts to enable 
geared-up organizations to immediately move forward 
with information sharing implementations. Ultimately, the 
challenge is to coordinate the development and operation 
of justice systems maintained or managed by dozens and 
eventually hundreds of participating state and local justice 
entities using the NIEM standards to enable these systems to 
share information consistently and accurately in a manner that 
maximizes the services provided to justice information users in 
Texas. 
Solution 
The solution was to: 
Tackle the strategic challenge by updating the five-year- 
old Texas Justice Information Exchange Strategic Plan. 
Tackle the tactical challenge by developing NIEM 2.0- 
conformant Information Exchange Package Documents 
(IEPDs) for 28 high-priority information exchanges. 
Together, these two complementary efforts make up a project 
called the Texas Path to NIEM. 
To implement this solution, the Texas Department of Public 
Safety (DPS), the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (DCJ), 
and the Office of Court Administration (OCA), in coordination 
with the Texas Integrated Justice Information System (TIJIS) 
Advisory Committee, selected the Unisys Corporation to 
develop and create the Texas Path to NIEM. 
The solution was based on adoption of the NIEM standards 
and extension of those standards to meet Texas-specific 
business needs in a consistent manner across all information 
exchanges. The Texas stakeholders have been very receptive 
to using NIEM. They like being able to leverage an existing 
national standard to reduce development and implementation 
efforts, while at the same time having the capability to extend 
the standard to meet the specific business needs of Texas state 
and local government organizations. They also like the fact 
that NIEM expands beyond the justice domain to include a 
broader base of government exchange partners. 
In developing the Texas Justice Information Exchange 
Strategic Plan, a number of focus group meetings were 

Issued 09/08 This project was supported by Grant No. 2007-NC-BX-K001 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in collaboration 
with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a 
component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, 
the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions in this 
document are those of the author and do not represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. www.NiEm.gov 
held to understand stakeholder needs and learn from 
their experiences and efforts to date. This led to a mission 
statement, a vision statement, and five key goals to meet that 
vision. Strategies and deliverables were developed for each 
goal. One of the goals is to create a Texas Justice Information 
Exchange Model that conforms to national standards. The 
strategy to achieve this goal is to: 
Identify and prioritize critical exchanges. 
Analyze the identified exchanges, using the SEARCH 
Justice Information Exchange Model (JIEM) tool. 
Identify gaps and barriers to sharing. 
Create IEPDs. 
The tactical effort to achieve this goal resulted in the complete 
development of NIEM 2.0-conformant IEPDs for 28 critical 
information exchanges. Some of the aspects of the project 
that made this effort successful were: 
The willingness of the stakeholders to enthusiastically 
invest significant amounts of time and effort to provide 
input, hold discussions, investigate and resolve issues, and 
review and comment on the work as it progressed. 
A recognition that the original project schedule was too 
aggressive and the willingness of the parties involved to 
extend the effort as needed to achieve high quality. 
The employment of an extensive, iterative exchange 
content modeling process that graphically depicts 
detailed business data and relationships to stakeholders 
while incorporating NIEM concepts and conventions. This 
approach helps provide confidence that the NIEM XML 
schema artifacts developed from the model accurately 
reflect the information exchange business data needs. 
The identification and incorporation of common business 
data components that were used across the 28 IEPDs, 
resulting in a high level of consistency and reuse across 
IEPDs. 
Significant stakeholder representative experience with 
electronic information sharing concepts and practice. 
The knowledge, experience, and skills of the vendor 
staff with NIEM and supporting activities, such as 
group discussion facilitation, the justice domain, 
modeling techniques, XML schema development, and 
documentation. 
Thorough, detailed review by key stakeholder 
representatives of the business and technical content of 
the IEPD artifacts. 
Results 
The Texas Path to NIEM project is an important first step in 
achieving the vision of a collaborative, continuously improving 
statewide Texas justice, public safety, and homeland security 
community that can: 
Accurately and securely share timely information. 
Access information at all levels of Texas government. 
By developing and documenting an Information Sharing 
Strategic Plan with explicit goals and actionable strategies, the 
stakeholder community can now work together on specific 
efforts to achieve these goals. 
Using the IEPDs for the 28 critical exchanges, a broad set of 
state and local organizations can move forward with system 
implementations incorporating information exchanges. 
Some organizations are ready to implement now and have 
already begun implementing systems that support these 
exchanges. Others will join in as circumstances permit. 
By defining these 28 exchanges up front, participating 
organizations can implement the exchanges on their own 
schedules. Early adopters will begin seeing the benefits of 
electronic information sharing right away, knowing that they 
will also support interoperability with exchange partners 
who implement later. The Texas Justice Information Model 
and common business data components resulting from the 
development of the 28 IEPDs provide a significant, consistent 
foundation to facilitate additional IEPD development. 
For More Information 
Jim Phillips, Texas Department of Public Safety, Crime Records 
Division, (512) 424-7794 
Issued 09/08 This project was supported by Grant No. 2007-NC-BX-K001 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in collaboration 
with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a 
component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, 
the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions in this 
document are those of the author and do not represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. www.NiEm.gov 
held to understand stakeholder needs and learn from 
their experiences and efforts to date. This led to a mission 
statement, a vision statement, and five key goals to meet that 
vision. Strategies and deliverables were developed for each 
goal. One of the goals is to create a Texas Justice Information 
Exchange Model that conforms to national standards. The 
strategy to achieve this goal is to: 
Identify and prioritize critical exchanges. 
Analyze the identified exchanges, using the SEARCH 
Justice Information Exchange Model (JIEM) tool. 
Identify gaps and barriers to sharing. 
Create IEPDs. 
The tactical effort to achieve this goal resulted in the complete 
development of NIEM 2.0-conformant IEPDs for 28 critical 
information exchanges. Some of the aspects of the project 
that made this effort successful were: 
The willingness of the stakeholders to enthusiastically 
invest significant amounts of time and effort to provide 
input, hold discussions, investigate and resolve issues, and 
review and comment on the work as it progressed. 
A recognition that the original project schedule was too 
aggressive and the willingness of the parties involved to 
extend the effort as needed to achieve high quality. 
The employment of an extensive, iterative exchange 
content modeling process that graphically depicts 
detailed business data and relationships to stakeholders 
while incorporating NIEM concepts and conventions. This 
approach helps provide confidence that the NIEM XML 
schema artifacts developed from the model accurately 
reflect the information exchange business data needs. 
The identification and incorporation of common business 
data components that were used across the 28 IEPDs, 
resulting in a high level of consistency and reuse across 
IEPDs. 
Significant stakeholder representative experience with 
electronic information sharing concepts and practice. 
The knowledge, experience, and skills of the vendor 
staff with NIEM and supporting activities, such as 
group discussion facilitation, the justice domain, 
modeling techniques, XML schema development, and 
documentation. 
Thorough, detailed review by key stakeholder 
representatives of the business and technical content of 
the IEPD artifacts. 
Results 
The Texas Path to NIEM project is an important first step in 
achieving the vision of a collaborative, continuously improving 
statewide Texas justice, public safety, and homeland security 
community that can: 
Accurately and securely share timely information. 
Access information at all levels of Texas government. 
By developing and documenting an Information Sharing 
Strategic Plan with explicit goals and actionable strategies, the 
stakeholder community can now work together on specific 
efforts to achieve these goals. 
Using the IEPDs for the 28 critical exchanges, a broad set of 
state and local organizations can move forward with system 
implementations incorporating information exchanges. 
Some organizations are ready to implement now and have 
already begun implementing systems that support these 
exchanges. Others will join in as circumstances permit. 
By defining these 28 exchanges up front, participating 
organizations can implement the exchanges on their own 
schedules. Early adopters will begin seeing the benefits of 
electronic information sharing right away, knowing that they 
will also support interoperability with exchange partners 
who implement later. The Texas Justice Information Model 
and common business data components resulting from the 
development of the 28 IEPDs provide a significant, consistent 
foundation to facilitate additional IEPD development. 
For More Information 
Jim Phillips, Texas Department of Public Safety, Crime Records 
Division, (512) 424-7794