Appendix D. Changes from NISP Version 9 (I) to NISP Version 10 (J)

104. The NISP Version 10 - ADatP-34(J) represents several major changes to the repository of Standards and Profiles within NATO. These changes were brought about by a recognition that the NISP had become bloated with obsolete or misleading information and was no longer fit for purpose for its customers. NISP v10 is a major deliverable in the extended IP CaT effort to improve the NISP structure, its content quality, and the processes for maintenance of the NISP.

105. Improvements to the Structure of the NISP. To improve the usability of the NISP for program managers and planners, we have changed the structure of the NISP to separate standards and profiles that are mandatory from those that are candidates for becoming mandatory. The new NISP layout is:

  • Volume 1: NISP Introduction, basic concepts and management processes

  • Volume 2: Mandatory standards and profiles

  • Volume 3: Candidate standards and profiles

106. In addition to the layout of the volumes, the NISP standards are arranged within each volume along the service categories defined by the C3 Technical Service Taxonomy structure. In 2016, the C3B approved[14] version 2 of the C3 Technical Service Taxonomy, and the NISP v10 structure reflects this latest version of the Taxonomy.

107. Quality Control of the Standards and Profiles. A major verification and cleanup effort of all of the NISP content was completed in 2016. The IP CaT established a repeatable Quality Control process for verification of NISP content and removal of expired or outdated standards and profiles. Fundamental to this process is the identification of Responsible Parties for every item in the NISP, and the establishment of a bi-annual process to verify the validity of NISP content. This Quality Control resulted in several changes to the content of NISP v10, including:

  • Retirement of standards that have not been claimed by responsible parties;

  • Retirement of 5 profiles:

    • Profile A - Minimum Interoperability Profile,

    • Profile C - Web services Profile (the relevant standards from this profile remain in NISP v10),

    • Profile D - Afghanistan Mission Network (AMN) Profile,

    • Profile E - Core Enterprise Services Implementation Specification (replaced by a new set of profiles)

    • Profile F – Service Interface Profile Template (moved to volume 1 for guidance).

108. Improved Processes for Maintenance. The IP CaT implemented a number of processes this year to improve its support to the C3B and its customers. The RFC Process has been revamped, as described in Section 6 of this Volume. The search capability of the online database viewer has been improved to make NISP content easier to find. Maintenance of the NISP database and content has been migrated to a service-based platform maintained by NCI Agency. From this platform, the IP CaT will work to automate the functions of producing and delivering the NISP content for continued improvement in coming years.

109. New and Updated Standards. As with every NISP publication, Version 10 includes a number of new standards and profiles. Also several existing standards have been updated to new versions. Because of the extensiveness of the revisions this year, the list of new standards is attached in raw form in Volume 1, Appendix E.



[14] AC/322-N(2016)0017