Chief Information Officer
IC Technical Specifications
Intelligence Community Identifier
Overview
Intelligence Community Identifier is defined in two encoding specifications, the TXT and XML encodings. The Text Data Encoding Specification for Intelligence Community Identifier (IC-ID.Text) defines detailed implementation guidance for textual identifiers to be used with a variety of text-based encodings. The XML Data Encoding Specification for Intelligence Community Identifier (IC-ID.XML), defines how to incorporate those identifiers into XML structures.
This specification is applicable to the Intelligence Community (IC) and information produced by, stored, or shared within the IC. This Data Encoding Specification (DES) may have relevance outside the scope of intelligence; however, prior to applying outside of this defined scope, the DES should be closely scrutinized and differences separately documented and assessed for applicability.
This specification applies to the IC, as defined by the National Security Act of 1947, as amended; and such other elements of any other department or agency as may be designated by the President, or designated jointly by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the head of the department or agency concerned, as an element of the IC. Joint and Coalition forces may use this specification but it is not required.
Compliance with this specification is measured against all aspects of the technical and documentary artifacts contained within the specification release package.
This specification is maintained by the IC Chief Information Officer via the Data Coordination Activity (DCA) and Common Metadata Standards Tiger Team (CMSTT)
Technical Specification Downloads
Latest Approved Public Release:
- XML Data Encoding Specifications for Intelligence Community Identifier (V2021-NOV - Standalone Package)
- XML Data Encoding Specifications for Intelligence Community Identifier (V2021-NOV - Convenience Package)
- XML Data Encoding Specifications for Intelligence Community Identifier (V2021-NOV - Light Package)
Mission Requirements
Information sharing within the national intelligence enterprise will increasingly rely on unique identifiers in shared intelligence. A structured, verifiable representation of unique identifiers to the intelligence data is required in order for the enterprise to become inherently "smarter" about the information flowing in and around it. Such a representation, when implemented with other data formats, improved user interfaces, and data processing utilities, can provide part of a larger, robust information assurance infrastructure capable of automating some of the management and exchange decisions today being performed by human beings.
“Intelligent” identifiers (embedded names, dates, organizations) are fragile. - Reassignments, recalls, and reorganizations make these kind of identifiers obsolete or meaningless over time. Lack of a globally unique identifier makes certain technical challenges harder, such as search, access control, duplicate detection, citations, folder references, etc. IC-ID alleviates these problems with an identifier that can be guaranteed globally unique and can be used into the indefinite future.
Chief Information Officer
IC Technical Specifications
CDR: Brokered Search
Overview
This IC/DoD enterprise encoding specification defines requirements and provides guidelines for the realization of the Content Discovery and Retrieval (CDR) Brokered Search Component as a web service using both the SOAP messaging protocol and the RESTful OpenSearch [OS] standard (intended to provide minimal requirements for implementing an OpenSearch search broker), hereafter termed a Brokered Search service. The Brokered Search Component serves as the primary mechanism to 1) facilitate the distribution of queries to applicable/relevant Search Components and content collections. These Search Components expose and 2) aggregate the results returned individually into a single uniform results set. The content of this specification provides enough information for Broker Search Component providers and implementers to create CDR-compliant Brokered Search Components, the specification describes a Brokered Search Component’s behavior, interface, and other aspects in detail.
The Brokered Search Component uses the basic functionality described by the Search Component for a single search. Additional inputs and outputs are defined as needed to support the four activities that underpin Brokered Search capabilities: brokered search coordination, source identification, search component invocation, and federation results processing. A Search component’s results are resource metadata rather than actual content resources. In the context of Search, resource metadata generally refers to a subset of a resource’s available metadata, not the entire underlying record. The Search Component returns metadata about a resource, which may sometimes describe the underlying resource (e.g., an image), while other times representing a sub-set of the data that makes up a resource (e.g., a collection of attributes). In some cases, the metadata returned from an instantiation of the Search function and the Retrieve function, which returns a resource itself, may happen to be the same, though this is considered an edge condition. Some of the information contained within each Search result may provide the information necessary for a consumer to retrieve or otherwise use a resource.
This specification supports Intelligence Community Directive 501 (ICD 501), Discovery, Dissemination or Retrieval of Information within the Intelligence Community, which establishes policies for (1) discovery, and (2) dissemination or retrieval of intelligence and intelligence-related information collected, or analysis produced by the Intelligence Community.
Compliance with this specification is measured against all aspects of the technical and documentary artifacts contained within the specification release package. This specification is maintained by the IC Chief Information Officer via the Services Coordination Activity (SCA) and Content Discovery and Retrieval Integrated Product Team (CDR IPT).
Technical Specification Downloads
Latest Approved Public Release:
- Brokered Search (V2 - Standalone Package (Release Date: 06 Sep 2013))
- Brokered Search (V2 - Light Package (Release Date: 06 Sep 2013))
Value Proposition
This specification is designed to fulfill a number of requirements in support of the transformational efforts of the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense Enterprise(IC/DoD). Features of the Brokered Search Specification are to:
- Facilitate the distribution of queries to applicable/relevant Search Components and content collections these Search Components expose.
- Aggregate the results returned individually into a single, uniform results set which is returned to the Consumer Component.
Chief Information Officer
IC Technical Specifications
Authority Category
Overview
This CVE Encoding Specification for Authority Categories (AUTHCAT.CES) defines detailed implementation guidance using several encoding formats including XML, and JSON to encode Authority Categories controlled vocabulary. This specification defines and contains common valid Authority Categories for Access Control.
This specification is maintained by the IC Chief Information Officer via the Data Standards Coordination Activity (DSCA) and Common Metadata Standards Tiger Team (CMSTT).
Technical Specification Downloads
Latest Approved Public Release:
Mission Requirements
Many IC encoding specifications use CVEs to define allowable values for various elements and attributes. Over time, several encoding specifications became dependent on the same list of values, and dual (or more) maintenance was required to keep the lists aligned. Additionally, any changes to a specification’s CVEs caused an entire new version of that specification to be created. In order to remove the need for dual maintenance and to remove the need to revision a specification when a CVE was updated, a new type of encoding specification, the CVE Encoding Specification, was created to decouple the vocabulary from the specifications. Each CES contains one or more CVEs and optionally a master schema defining elements and attributes limited to the allowable values and/or any Schematron rules that enforce the vocabulary in specifications that define their own elements or attributes.
Chief Information Officer
IC Technical Specifications
Intelligence Publications
Data Encoding Specification for Intelligence Publications
Overview
This IC enterprise data encoding specification defines XML elements and attributes, associated structures and relationships, mandatory and cardinality requirements, permissible values, and constraint rules for representing electronic textual information resources. Textual information resources consist primarily of text supplemented by interspersed non-textual information. Examples include assessments, studies, estimates, compilations, reports, and other document-oriented information.
This specification contains tagging structures for information resource metadata, mixed textual and media content found in the body of publications, source reference citations, classification and control markings, and knowledge assertions. Compliance with this specification is measured against all aspects of the technical and documentary artifacts contained within the specification release package.
This specification changed names and numeric designators multiple times since its inception in the late 1990's.
This specification is maintained by the IC Chief Information Officer via the Data Coordination Activity (DCA) and Common Metadata Standards Tiger Team (CMSTT).
Technical Specification Downloads
Latest Approved Public Release:
- XML Data Encoding Specification for Intelligence Publications (V2018-APRr2022-MAY - Standalone Package)
- XML Data Encoding Specification for Intelligence Publications (V2018-APRr2022-MAY - Convenience Package)
- XML Data Encoding Specification for Intelligence Publications (V2018-APRr2022-MAY - Light Package)
Mission Requirements
This specification is designed to fulfill a number of requirements in support of the transformational efforts of the Intelligence Community. Many of these requirements are articulated in IC Directives 203, 206, 208, 501, and 710, among others. Features of this specification are provided to support:
- Improving publication and dissemination efficiency by reducing the cost and time for performing manual and complex rendering, manipulation, and content transformation.
- Facilitating discovery and exchange of intelligence publications between collectors, all-source analysts, and consumers.
- Capturing overall security marking metadata in order to support attribute-and clearance-based information management practices, such as: secure collaboration, content management, content and portion-level filtering of discovery results, and content transfers across security domains.
- Capturing source reference citations to provide intelligence producers the ability to systematically analyze how and at what frequency the data they gather or produce is being used.
- Capturing and retaining a greater understanding of an intelligence publications meaning, purpose, genesis, and characteristics as identified by a human or service.
Chief Information Officer
IC Technical Specifications
US Government Agency
Overview
This XML Data Encoding Specification for US Government Agency Acronyms (USGOVAgency.XML) defines detailed implementation guidance for using Extensible Markup Language (XML) to encode USGOVAgency data. This Data Encoding Specification (DES) defines the XML elements and attributes, associated structures and relationships, mandatory and cardinality requirements, and permissible values for representing USGOVAgency data concepts using XML. Versions 1 and higher of this Data Encoding Specification (DES) can be utilized with a Trusted Data Format structure and valid PUBS instances that use a Trusted Data Format (TDF) wrapper. A TDF instance may conform with multiple DES simultaneously assuming none of the criterion are in conflict.
This specification contains tagging structures for information resource metadata, mixed textual and media content found in the body of publications, source reference citations, classification and control markings, and knowledge assertions.
This is the first release of the specification and therefore provides no backward capability.
Compliance with this specification is measured against all aspects of the technical and documentary artifacts contained within the specification release package.
This specification is maintained by the IC Chief Information Officer via the Data Coordination Activity (DCA) and Common Metadata Standards Tiger Team (CMSTT)
Technical Specification Downloads
Latest Approved Public Release:
Mission Requirements
This specification defines & baselines a Controlled Vocabulary Enumeration for US GOV Agency acronyms / definitions and establishes allowable US Agency Acronym values for the IC Enterprise.
This specification is designed to fulfill a number of requirements in support of the transformational efforts of the Intelligence Community. Many of these requirements are articulated in IC Directives 208, 209, 500-21, 501, 710, and ICPM - 2007-200-2 among others.
This specification is designed to support the Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise (IC ITE) Increment 1 Implementation Plan.
This specification supports common understanding and use of US Gov Agency Acronyms to enable overall information sharing strategies and policies of the IC as established in relevant law, policy, and directives