KEY IDEAS:
- Fusion centers need interconnected, interoperable technology that allows information to flow freely.
- Interoperable solutions enable tech stack flexibility, streamlined investigations, and secure intelligence sharing.
- Interoperability supports interagency collaboration, one of fusion centers’ essential functions.
- Civil liberties, privacy protection, and data security must be a priority in fusion center operations.
Fusion centers around the U.S. contribute to a national information sharing network. These interdisciplinary operations receive information about national security threats — such as terrorism and transnational organized crime — and disseminate intelligence to local agencies. Fusion centers also gather and analyze regional insights, providing unique context that informs public safety strategies at all government levels.
To function effectively, fusion center personnel must be able to gather timely and accurate information, compare disparate datasets, and securely share insights with partners. The core mission of fusion centers is information sharing and interagency collaboration with state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments. To fulfill that mission, fusion centers need interoperable technologies that enable seamless communication among partner agencies.
Keep reading to learn how interoperability creates the foundation for effective operations, analysis, and collaboration.
Why interoperability matters in fusion centers
Fusion centers leverage dozens of real-time and historical inputs from SLTT partners, private organizations, and federal entities. If that information is fractured across incompatible solutions, personnel must constantly switch contexts and conduct tedious manual analyses to uncover insights.
That’s why interoperability is non-negotiable for technology in fusion centers. When systems, devices, and applications work well together, partners can:
- Seamlessly exchange information to enhance overall collaboration and functionality
- Access, move, and action their unified data in third-party platforms
- Implement a unified intelligence collection system that promotes nuanced analysis with additional context
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAY: Interoperable technologies support fusion centers in intelligence gathering, analysis, and secure data sharing.
Benefits of interoperability in fusion centers
Fusion centers must constantly evolve to keep up with increasingly complex security threats and investigations. Interoperable tech solutions give fusion centers the long-term flexibility and efficiency required for them to keep evolving.
1. Tech stack flexibility
“It’s not going to work from a community safety standpoint if we have isolation and a lack of interoperability when it comes to making these procurement decisions.” —Deputy Chief John McMahon (ret.), Los Angeles Police Department
Fusion centers need to plan for future connectivity to emerging SLTT sources, the Bureau of Justice Administration (BJA) says. But that can be complicated. Agency leaders build their operations’ tech stacks over time, procuring new solutions as their budgets and priorities allow. Because no two agencies have the exact same setup, and because fusion centers need solutions that allow disparate technology to work together, interoperability and open data practices are essential to ensure partners can seamlessly collaborate over the long term.
However, some technology vendors limit their customers’ options by restricting the flow of data between their platforms and third-party solutions. This prevents agencies from accessing and moving their data in open, non-proprietary formats. When essential data is restricted, agencies can’t easily switch providers without jeopardizing their data access capabilities, disrupting the flow of mission-critical information, or losing that data altogether. This limits fusion centers’ ability to adapt and evolve over the long term.
“It’s not going to work from a community safety standpoint if we have isolation and a lack of interoperability when it comes to making these procurement decisions,” said retired Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief John McMahon.
2. Stronger investigations and analyses
Interoperable technologies with open data policies ensure that fusion center personnel always have full, unencumbered access to both historical and live data. Users can easily view, analyze, and contextualize information across disparate sources to uncover previously unseen connections and emerging patterns.
Third-party data integration solutions further streamline investigations by pooling all fusion center inputs into a single data lake. These platforms:
- Unify, clean, and harmonize historical data
- Ingest real-time data from live inputs
- Enable seamless, secure external data sharing
- Allow personnel to search across internal data and shared federal or SLTT sources simultaneously
As a result, personnel spend more time asking deeper, more nuanced questions and getting better answers that inform strategy and resource allocation.
3. True data ownership
Data ownership is a foundational aspect of interoperability. Full data ownership means personnel can access, export, and search their agency’s data in its entirety — including relevant metadata — in a third-party platform. Agencies that don’t clarify their data ownership risk getting locked into restrictive solutions.
“We import and feed all these systems our data, but then when we want to take it somewhere else or retain it longer, somehow it’s no longer our data,” said Ed Medrano, former chief of the California Department of Justice Division of Law Enforcement. “When did that happen? At some point, funds — public funds — were spent on buying these systems.”
Those public funds are intended to enhance public safety, and that means personnel need to complete access to essential data. So before entering new contracts, leaders must ask critical questions to ensure the agency, not the vendor, owns their data.
DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE: Own Your Data: Interoperability and the Risks of Vendor Lock-In
4. Interagency collaboration
Fusion centers cannot exist in silos. They need to build trust with partners, establish two-way communication methods, and identify clear roles to facilitate collaboration. Seamless interagency data sharing simplifies investigations and supports collaboration among partner agencies. Software interoperability allows agencies with different tech stacks to work from a common operating picture so they can coordinate on data-driven strategies to solve and prevent crime.
Partner agencies can take data sharing to the next level by investing in a shared integration platform, which allows each entity to opt into sharing certain datasets externally. This makes it easier for personnel to access shared data, conduct analyses, visualize insights, and share intelligence securely.
READ MORE: Interagency Data Sharing: Overcoming Barriers To Drive Collaboration
5. Security, privacy, and compliance
Public safety agencies have access to more data than ever. Because fusion centers handle sensitive data and classified intelligence, they must set guardrails to protect citizens’ privacy and civil liberties.
In addition to following government regulations, each fusion center should determine its own privacy protection policies concerning data collection, storage, and sharing. Extra caution must apply to data sources that can identify individuals, writes Mike O’Connor, former deputy chief of the Atlanta Police Department.
“A culture of protection and compliance, with the technical measures and human controls like audits to reinforce that culture, enable departments to leverage a bevy of data sources to protect communities while making civil liberties a ‘north star’ — a true win for the people the department is serving,” O’Connor writes.
Fusion center security must be airtight. Modern tech solutions add a layer of protection to sensitive data with built-in compliance, modern encryption standards, granular user access controls, and audit trails.
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAY: Benefits of investing in interoperable tech solutions for fusion centers include long-term flexibility and adaptability, stronger investigations and analyses, streamlined interagency collaboration, and the protection of citizens’ privacy and civil liberties.
Best practices for data sharing in fusion centers
At every level, fusion center operations require strong collaboration with federal, SLTT, and private partners. However, those partner agencies may struggle with cultural friction, incompatible data storage and analysis methods, and concerns over data sharing regulations. Those challenges are magnified in fusion center operations, so leaders need to coordinate, implement, and maintain a plan for information sharing.
A clear data sharing plan should:
- Lay out standard operating procedures (SOPs) for exchanging information between agencies
- Define roles, responsibilities, and permissions for who can access and share what data
- Detail what information can be shared, including with whom and in what format
- Outline standards for secure, cloud-native platforms that support external data exchange
“Deciding how these various types of information will be shared in specific instances is critical,” said Lt. Justin Elliot of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. “If you ignore this, your operation is ripe for conflict across different groups.”
💡 PRO TIP: Your fusion center should develop a clear data sharing plan that defines SOPs for sharing intelligence externally, access permissions for stakeholders in various roles, what data can be shared and how, and standards for software solutions that support information sharing.
Take your fusion center to the next level
An effective fusion center requires an interconnected data ecosystem. Interoperable data practices remove roadblocks to the collection, analysis, and sharing of intelligence, supporting collaboration among local, regional, state, and federal agencies.
Fusion center leaders can enhance their operations by implementing a data integration solution. Peregrine is a vendor-agnostic platform that ingests and unifies virtually any data source — so with a single search, personnel can explore all of the information their fusion center has access to, including shared external databases. Peregrine’s supercharged analysis helps personnel identify emerging patterns, monitor trends, and assess risk. And with robust security measures and granular access controls, personnel can share data quickly and securely.
To learn how Peregrine supports fusion center operations, schedule a demo today.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about interoperability and data sharing in fusion centers
What is the main purpose of a fusion center?
Fusion centers collect and analyze intelligence about national security threats (such as terrorism, organized crime, and cyber threats) and share it with local, state, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) agencies.
Why is interoperability important in fusion centers?
When different technologies, systems, and agencies cannot seamlessly exchange information, personnel risk vendor lock-in and often waste time switching between siloed platforms, hindering investigations and situational awareness. Interoperable technologies help fusion centers achieve faster analysis, stronger collaboration, and more effective crime prevention.
How do fusion centers share data securely?
Fusion centers follow strict compliance standards and use encryption, role-based access controls, and audit trails to ensure sensitive data is shared only with authorized partners while protecting civil liberties and privacy.
What challenges do fusion centers face with data sharing?
Common data sharing challenges for fusion centers include:
- Vendor lock-in that restricts data movement
- Cultural differences between agencies
- Incompatible data formats
- Concerns over privacy and civil liberties
Interoperable, cloud-native data solutions help overcome these challenges by integrating and harmonizing data, automating analysis, and enabling secure, seamless information sharing.
What does ‘data ownership’ mean for public safety agencies?
When an agency owns its data, the agency — not a tech vendor — controls how the data is stored, accessed, exported, and used. Without clear ownership, agencies risk losing access to their own information when switching providers or renewing contracts.
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