The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) will provide outreach and education opportunities to gain awareness-level education and skills associated with the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) platform and the new data standard on release.
The USFA will deliver outreach and education in a variety of formats on a nationwide scale. Formats may include, but are not limited to, podcasts, webinars, video tutorials, conference presentations, regional workshops and other formats. Information on associated outreach and education opportunities will be available through the USFA's website for all interested organizations and individuals.
Frequently asked questions stakeholder engagement and education
Yes. The SLTT fire and emergency services community has and will continue to be involved in the NERIS evolution. Over the past 2 years, the USFA leadership has engaged with the whole of the fire service national leadership, as well as many state and local leaders, researchers, and subject matter experts to arrive at this pivotal point.
The USFA, with support from U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate, will support efforts to assemble a stakeholder working group to provide individual expertise, inputs and feedback throughout the development process for consideration. USFA will coordinate to ensure that the stakeholder working group is comprised of individuals that together represent a national perspective. Participation in the stakeholder working group will be by invitation only.
Yes. The USFA will ensure NFA courses that currently include NFIRS are updated at the appropriate times to ensure currency with the new NERIS platform when it is released and becomes available for use by the community.
The new NERIS platform will support integration of relevant, external data sources and innovative analytics to provide high-value intelligence on the fire problem at the local, state and national levels. These capabilities will increase the quality of information for use by personnel in the state NFIRS program manager role (or equivalent).
The capabilities of the new NERIS platform may evolve the role of the state NFIRS program manager over time, as additional functionality is released. Any changes to the role or position description for a state NFIRS program manager role (or equivalent) are at the discretion of the applicable state authority.
The USFA will publicly provide the new core data standard on which the NERIS platform is being developed. The data standard will be provided in a format similar to how the latest NFIRS 5.0 data standard is presently provided.
Technology vendors and other applicable entities will be able to access and build upon the data standard as appropriate. USFA will also provide nationwide outreach and education throughout the development processes and upon release of iterations or updated versions of the new NERIS platform. Technology vendors and other applicable entities are encouraged to participate and engage in these public forums.
This is at the discretion of the respective organization seeking to update their existing NFIRS software. Once NERIS is developed and operational, USFA will work to migrate fire and emergency services departments onto the new platform as a replacement for the legacy NFIRS. This migration will occur over several years to support a smooth transition from NFIRS to NERIS.
USFA will provide outreach and education to the community regarding the transition process and timeline. Legacy NFIRS will remain operational throughout the transition process. Fire and emergency services departments will be advised prior to the full decommissioning of the legacy NFIRS system.
Have a question or need more information?
Please email the NERIS Information Desk.