D10.0  DATA FORMATS AND DELIVERY STANDARDS

D10.1  Contract Data Requirements Lists
Specific data requirements, formats, and delivery modes will have to be specified for each project on one or more Contract Data Requirements Lists (CDRL). Generic guidelines for multi-national projects have been prepared by AC/313 (Committee on Acquisition Practices) and this subject is being considered in detail in the NCMB/NICG-sponsored Acquisition Workshop (1994-1996).

D10.2  Classified Data
Classified data will be safeguarded in accordance with the NATO Regulations appropriate to each Project. [ C-M (55)15(FINAL) ].

D10.3  Data Encryption
In the past, data encryption needs could only be met, legally, through the use of Government-approved encryption methods. More recently, however, commercial encryption methods have been developed and are now in use within NATO although the approval for such activity has not yet been confirmed as being generally applicable.

D10.4  Digital Signatures
Digital signatures may be specified in accordance with Electronic Data Interchange agreements that form part of the contractual negotiations on a project. Although this subject is still in its infancy, guidelines are under development by AC/313 together with suitable sample clauses for use in Electronic Data Interchange agreements.

The following standards currently apply.

D10.5  Digital Data Delivery
Data will be acquired in digital form unless specific operational reasons dictate otherwise.

Product (Equipment) Data should be developed and presented in digital form regardless of the intended use of such data throughout the product or equipment life-cycle.

Data with a relatively short life (e.g., Agenda, Minutes, schedules, spreadsheets, plans, and progress reports) may be specified according to project management requirements:

· According to the standards contained in this Section
· According to administrative standards used in the project (For Example HQ NATO has adopted WordPerfect for word-processing and Microsoft Excel for Spreadsheets). The are not CALS Standards but their specification may satisfy the management requirement
· Mutually Agreeable Commercial Software agreed by all participants in a Project.

In general, it should be noted that, in principle, CALS products should be software and hardware independent. Any departure from this principle must take into account the eventual use of the data so acquired and management should consider not only Project Office requirements but also the needs of the users during the whole of the life-cycle, so far as these may be ascertained.

D10.6  Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
Data Exchange should be specified by electronic means unless operational requirements have determined that such means are inappropriate or not cost-effective.

Note: An EDIFACT-compliant version of AECMA Specification 2000M was issued in DRAFT in late-1995 and will be formally issued in 1996. Whereas X.12 is the current Requirement of U.S. CALS DoD, it should also be noted that MIL-HDBK-59B and MIL-STD-974(CITIS) explicitly reference FIPS 161-1 EDIFACT for CALS applications and ANSI have submitted appropriate change requests to facilitate migration to EDIFACT. UN/ted Nations/Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) EDIFACT is expected to be adopted as the NATO standard in the near future.

D10.7  Electronic Data Interchange Agreement
An Electronic Data Interchange Agreement records the understanding between two or more parties in a joint project or acquisition program as to the type and level of services to be provided for the transfer of data.

AECMA 2000M Chapter 4 contains an outline Data Interchange Agreement.

AC/313 has published a draft NATO Data Interchange Agreement and this has been used as the basis for Section 8 of this Handbook.

D10.8  Data Dictionary
The NATO CALS Office is compiling a standard data dictionary to support logistics information processing. Whilst there is no definitive standard for a data dictionary, a number of supporting standards exist:

Note: The International Standards Community, as a joint ISO, UN/ECE, and ISO/IEC activity, is currently engaged in the development of a Basic Semantic Repository (BSR). The BSR is a tool to aid in the rationalization and alignment of existing data dictionaries in line with international standards and to enable future alignment of internal data and external communication requirements as an aid to the development of a NATO Data Dictionary. The representation of the Data Elements in the NATO Data Dictionary will be in accordance with ISO 11179.

D10.9  Integrated Product Database
The use of a single coherent set of CALS standards, the acquisition of data in digital form, and the exchange of data electronically does not, in itself, fully exploit the advantages of CALS. To obtain added value, all project data should be stored on a single database organized in such a way that all authorized used can have optimum access. Such a database, which may be physically distributed between several locations, should permit data to be created once and used many times. The creation of the Integrated Product Data Base should use the standards defined above under Data Dictionary.

D10.10  Database Query Language
SQL is based on a relational database model. It is used to define data in relational databases within a data dictionary component of SQL and to manipulate data.

Note: As far as we are aware, NATO has not yet adopted any International Standard for use within NATO as a Standard Query Language.

D10.11  Contractor Integrated Technical Information Service
Contractor Integrated Technical Information Service (CITIS) is intended to be an efficient, contractually implementable means for providing Purchasers with on-line access to, and exchange of, Contractor-generated and maintained data specified in a Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL).

The initial U.S. concept described in MIL-STD-974 specified requirements within a U.S. legal framework; such a framework does not necessarily exist outside the US. Intellectual Property Rights and other legal issues may inhibit the implementation of a CITIS approach within NATO unless clear contractual agreements can be reached within each project, and therefore it has not yet been possible to determine the NATO Policy towards CITIS or to define a standards for its implementation.

Section 5 of this Handbook addresses the use of CITIS.

D10.12  Automated Interchange of Information
MIL-STD-1840 defines the procedures for handling several forms of document transmittal and for the transmittal of product data that does not consist of documents. However, it prescribes that the primary and only required form is that of SGML encoded text with graphics in separate (linked) files.

Note: The Policy and applicable standards for Automated Interchange of Information for NATO, and the status of the above Standards has not yet been confirmed or validated in the NATO CALS context. Although there are legacy systems based on this U.S. DoD Military Standard in use within NATO, it should be noted that this Standard may not reflect NATO CALS requirements.

D10.13  Technical Data Packages
Technical Data Packages (TDPs) contain the information necessary to describe a defense system and its components in terms of design, engineering, manufacturing, and logistics support. The application of CALS principles to the creation, management, and use of TDPs is addressed in Section 3 of this Handbook.

Note: The Policy and applicable standards for Technical Data Packages for NATO, and the status of the above Standard has not yet been confirmed or validated in the NATO CALS context; it should be noted that the above U.S. DoD Military Standard may not yet reflect CALS requirements.

D10.14  Database Manager
To facilitate such database development, a database manager with a clear understanding of CALS principles, should be appointed for each project.

D10.15  Communications Infrastructure
Whilst CALS Standards should ideally be specified independently of hardware, software, and communications infrastructure, nevertheless a number of CALS applications are dependent on communications/infrastructure standards. However, such standards are necessarily not CALS-specific and do not fall within the area of responsibility of the NATO CALS Management Board.

D10.16  Status of Document

D10.17  Disclaimer
This document is issued by the NATO CALS Office as a WORKING DRAFT ONLY and it has not been fully endorsed by the NATO CALS Management Board at its date of issue. Nevertheless, the information contained in the draft is believed to reflect NATO CALS Policy and the CALS-related standards applicable at the date of issue.

D10.18  Feedback
Comments or Observations on layout, content, or future distribution would be welcomed by the NATO CALS Office. Further details may be obtained from the Director, CALS Policy (Mr. Charles W. Schaffer, Tel: Brussels (+32) 2 707 4750) or the Director, CALS Implementation (Wing Commander Brian W Price, Tel: Brussels (+32) 2 707 4653)