Reference model on deck

The first volume of the data reference model, the fifth and final piece of the federal enterprise architecture, is being prepped for a mid-September release, according to Karen Evans, administrator for e-government and information technology at the Office of Management and Budget.

Approximately a year in the making, the data model is undergoing final internal OMB clearance, she said. The model will provide an framework that includes an approach to common categorization, exchange and structure of data. The exchange portion of the framework -- the Information Exchange Package -- will enable federal agencies to successfully exchange and map one another's data..

OMB officials aim to attain final approval signatures allowing the release of the model within the first two weeks of this month, Evans said. Officials are examining the document to ensure that the language is correct and make sure no policy issues have been overlooked, she said.

Under Volume One, individual agencies will adopt whatever data exchange standards they deem appropriate, Evans said. Future volumes will burrow deeper into data and data-exchange standards, she added. "It may be determined that it would be helpful if a subsequent volume of the [model] contained a data-exchange standard," she said.

A security and privacy profile overlay of all five models of the federal enterprise architecture should also be released any day, Evans said. The overlay has been approved and should be posted soon, she added.

The architecture is an attempt to create a cross-agency blueprint for government endeavors. The five models are business, performance, service component, technical and data.