# Presentation: 067397

## Possible Futures: Metadata and the Homeland-Security Mission

- Martin Smith, Information Sharing Program Manager
- Department of Homeland Security
- The Information Management Forum
- Chantilly, VA                                  November 20, 2003

## What Has Changed?

- Technology and other changes open up new ways to fulfill business goals
- Recent changes (5-10 years)
- The Internet: “the death of distance” (and time isn’t feeling well)
- New business models: the agile organization
- Very recent changes (2-4 years)
- Emergence of XML
- Practical component-based architecture
- Terror threat response focused on information sharing
- About to change
- The real-time organization

- Martin Smith, DHS/CIO

- November 20, 2003

## New Roles for Metadata

- Smart data
- Transactional intelligence
- Documents versus databases
- Beyond search: the uses of structure
- Focus on the interface
- <Question>Is this my future?</Question>

- Martin Smith, DHS/CIO

- November 20, 2003

## Smart Data

- Emergence of XML removes restrictions on complexity of data structures
- Each fact can carry an unlimited amount of context (“born-on date”, quality indicator, special-handling codes, distribution)
- Isn’t this expensive??
- Users (mainly systems) can interpret context to make complex decisions, combining data context, local context, business rules, etc.
- Practical fool-proofing for self-service
- Reduce drudge work for experts (but top experts needed to define best expression of context metadata)
- Faster and better consistency: scalable without limit

- Martin Smith, DHS/CIO

- November 20, 2003

## Transactional Intelligence

- DHS (mostly) in the business of making lots of decisions, quickly: millions served
- No time to read reports
- Red-yellow-green at the airport
- Not high policy, but just as important
- Decision quality must be higher (more context data)
- “See you in court” (maintain decision trail)
- Flexible and fast - - getting the word out and changing procedures everywhere, instantly

- Martin Smith, DHS/CIO

- November 20, 2003

## Documents vs. Databases

- Transactional intelligence requires databases (collections of “facts”)
- Not, however, your father’s relational tables
- Documents are collections of facts, with context and relationships
- Consider the form versus the report
- How far can we go without losing value?
- What’s the benefit? . . .(next page)

- Martin Smith, DHS/CIO

- November 20, 2003

## Beyond search: value of structure

- Contrarian assertion: most search activity is a symptom of poor system design or poorly understood business process
- A workaround that’s turned into a goal
- Better search touted as goal of data tagging!
- The data you need should come to you!
- Real value of structure is to model real-world meaningful objects, like terrorists

- Martin Smith, DHS/CIO

- November 20, 2003

## Focus on the Interface

- <Technoid advisory/> The components revolution in computer architecture is here
- See also: service-oriented architecture, OOD
- Benefits are compelling: faster, better, cheaper, even easier
- FEA and DHS are committed to this direction
- The end of applications: all you need to know you learned in kindergarden, playing with Lego blocks
- Change your process daily (if the humans can keep up!)
- So what does this have to do with metadata?
- Components require a standard “interface contract”
- The contract consists of agreement on standard communications protocols and the exchange of standard XML data structures
- Managing XML schemas defining exchanges between components will be the main business of metadata programs

- Martin Smith, DHS/CIO

- November 20, 2003

## <Question>Is this my future?</Question>

- <Answer>No!</Answer>
- Initial reaction of many non-IT people to XML has been negative
- Fear not: analysts will not type <brackets>, or even see them: a misunderstanding caused by crude first-generation XML tools
- Most metadata will be generated automatically
- Things like dates, audit info
- Almost all the rest will come from pick-lists on a form instead of free-text typing (hey, fewer keystrokes and fewer erros, er, errors!)
- But wait, there’s more!  Metadata-enhanced systems  will automatically populate your research files
- Bottom line: less drudge work, more quality time

- Martin Smith, DHS/CIO

- November 20, 2003

## The Inevitable Disclaimer

**The Metadata Goldmining Magic Quadrant**
**(with apologies to the Gartner Group)**

- Ability to

- Ability to execute

- Completeness of vision

**DHS**

- Martin Smith, DHS/CIO

- November 20, 2003