A.
CONCEPTS and PRINCIPLES.
The NIMS leverages science and technology to improve capabilities
and lower costs. It observes five key principles:
1. Interoperability and Compatibility.
Systems
must be able to work together and should not interfere with
one another if the multiple jurisdictions, organizations,
and functions that come together under the NIMS are to be
effective in domestic incident management. Interoperability
and compatibility are achieved through the use of such tools
as common communications and data standards, digital data
formats, equipment standards, and design standards.
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2. Technology Support.
Technology
support permits organizations using the NIMS to enhance all
aspects of incident management and emergency
response. Technology support facilitates incident operations
and sustains the research and development (R&D) programs
that underpin the long-term investment in the nation’s
future incident management capabilities.
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3. Technology Standards.
Supporting
systems and technologies are based on requirements developed
through preparedness organizations at various jurisdictional
levels (see Section III.B.1). National standards for key
systems may be required to facilitate the interoperability
and compatibility of major systems across jurisdictional,
geographic, and functional lines.
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4. Broad-Based Requirements.
Needs
for new technologies, procedures, protocols, and standards
to facilitate incident management are identified at both
the field and the national levels. Because these needs will
most likely exceed available resources, the NIMS provides
a mechanism for aggregating and prioritizing them from the
local to the national level. These needs will be met across
the incident life cycle by coordinating basic, applied, developmental,
and demonstration research, testing, and evaluation activities.
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5.
Strategic Planning for R&D.
Strategic
R&D planning identifies future technologies
that can improve preparedness, prevention, response, and
recovery capabilities or lower the cost of existing capabilities.
To ensure effective R&D, the NIMS Integration Center,
in coordination with the Under Secretary for Science and
Technology of the Department of Homeland Security, will integrate
into the national R&D agenda the incident management
science and technology needs of departments, agencies, functional
disciplines, private-sector entities, and nongovernmental
organizations operating within the NIMS at the Federal, State,
local, and tribal levels.
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TOP
B.
SUPPORTING INCIDENT MANAGEMENT WITH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
Supporting technologies enhance incident management capabilities
or lower costs through three principal activities: operational
scientific support; technology standards support; and research
and development support.
1. Operational Scientific
Support.
Operational scientific support identifies and,
on request, mobilizes scientific and technical assets
that can be
used to support incident management activities. Operational
scientific support draws on the scientific and technological
expertise of Federal agencies and other organizations.
Planning for this category of support is done at each
level of government through the NIMS preparedness organizations
described in Section III.B.1. Operational scientific
support is requisitioned and provided via the NIMS through
various programs coordinated by the Department of Homeland
Security and other organizations and agencies.
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2. Technical Standards Support.
Technical
standards support efforts enable the development and
coordination of technology standards for the NIMS
to ensure that personnel, organizations, communications
and information systems, and other equipment perform
consistently, effectively, and reliably together without
disrupting one another. The NIMS Integration Center will
coordinate the establishment of technical standards for
NIMS users. The following principles will be used in
defining these standards:
a.
Performance Measurements as a Basis for Standards.
Performance
measurement—collecting hard
data on how things work in the real world—is
the most reliable basis for standards that ensure
the safety and mission effectiveness of emergency
responders and incident managers. Within the technology
standards process, a performance measurement infrastructure
develops guidelines, performance standards, testing
protocols, personnel certification, reassessment,
and training procedures to help incident management
organizations use equipment systems effectively.
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b. Consensus-Based
Performance Standards.
A consensus-based approach
to standards builds on existing approaches to standards
for interoperable
equipment and systems and takes advantage of existing
SDOs with long-standing interest and expertise.
These SDOs include the National Institute of Justice,
National Institute for Standards and Technology,
National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health, American National Standards Institute,
American Society for Testing and Materials, and
National Fire Protection Association. The NIMS,
through the NIMS Integration Center, establishes
working relationships among these SDOs and incident
management organizations at all levels to develop
performance standards for incident management technology.
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c. Test and Evaluation
by Objective Experts.
NIMS technology criteria will
rely on private- and public-sector testing laboratories
to evaluate
equipment against NIMS technical standards. These
organizations will be selected in accordance with
guidelines that ensure that testing organizations
are both technically proficient and objective (free
from conflicting interests) in their testing. The
NIMS Integration Center will issue appropriate
guidelines as part of its standards-development
and facilitation responsibilities.
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d. Technical Guidelines
for Training Emergency Responders on
Equipment Use.
Inputs from vulnerability analysts,
equipment developers, users, and standards experts
are
employed to develop scientifically based technical
guidelines for training emergency responders
on how to use equipment properly. Based on incident
management protocols, instruments, and instrument
systems, these training guidelines reflect threat
and vulnerability information, equipment and
systems capabilities, and a range of expected
operating conditions. In addition, performance
measures and testing protocols developed from
these training guidelines provide a reproducible
method of measuring the effectiveness of equipment
and systems.
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3. Research and Development
to Solve Operational Problems.
R&D planning will be
based on the operational needs of the entire range of NIMS
users. These needs represent
key inputs as the nation formulates its R&D agenda
for developing new and improved incident management capabilities.
Since operational needs will usually
exceed the resources available for research to address
them, these needs must be validated, integrated,
and prioritized. The preparedness organizations described
in Section III.B.1 perform these functions. The Department
of Homeland Security is responsible for integrating user
needs at all levels into the national R&D agenda.
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V - COMMUNICATIONS and INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
Chapter VII - ONGOING MANAGEMENT and MAINTENACE >>
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