Technology Framework
A reference architecture for national command and control — integrated, intelligent, interoperable, secure and resilient. It takes what the field sees, what agencies hold and what the open world publishes, and turns it into one picture that decision-makers can act on.
They fail on the joins — between systems, between agencies, between the technology and the people expected to run it. The framework is built around those four failure points, and each one is answered by a specific layer.
Feeds stay in the system that collected them. The picture exists, in pieces, in five different places.
Answered by Layer 3Each service holds a view of the same incident. No one holds the whole of it, and no one can hand it over cleanly.
Answered by Layer 2Controls bolted on after go-live are bolted on too late — and the data being protected is national.
Answered by the security layerConsoles without operators, shift discipline or written procedure produce screens, not decisions.
Answered by Layer 7Inputs feed the platform, the working stack sits at the centre, security wraps every layer of it, and the disciplines and people that keep it running sit underneath. Every element here is expanded in its own section below.
Every source enters through the integration platform in Layer 3.
Applied across every layer, not positioned between them.
Each service runs its own operations on the platform and contributes to the picture the others depend on. The capabilities listed are drawn from the framework's own application layer.
Everything the centre knows begins here — from an officer's handset at a checkpoint to a query against a national register.
Mobile apps, tablets, bodycams, drones.
CCTV, ANPR, GPS, alarms, environmental sensors.
HR, finance, asset management, case management, permits.
NIN, BVN, watchlists, Interpol, other agencies.
Social media, news, GIS, weather, maps.
The nine capabilities operators, investigators and commanders work in every day. This is the visible surface of the whole platform — and the only layer most users will ever name.
One live operating picture, shared across agencies and locations.
Continuous watch over feeds, sites and assets of interest.
From first report to closure, with a complete audit trail.
Evidence, actions and outcomes held together in one record.
What is available, where it is, and where it should go next.
Movement of people and goods tracked across entry points.
Operational and strategic reporting, on demand.
Command-level views for leaders who need the position, fast.
One channel for every agency working the same incident.
The pipeline that turns many agencies' raw feeds into one trusted, queryable source of truth. Each stage feeds the next.
APIs, streaming, connectors, ETL.
Structured and unstructured raw data storage.
Stream processing and batch processing.
Entity resolution and data quality.
ESB, API gateway, microservices.
A command centre is only as dependable as what it runs on. This layer is engineered so the links, the power and the data stay up.
Compute, storage, virtualisation.
Private / government cloud, hybrid cloud.
LAN, WAN, SD-WAN, 5G/LTE, MPLS.
Clusters, load balancers, auto failover.
Backup, replication, disaster recovery.
UPS, generators, cooling, monitoring.
Security is applied across the whole stack rather than inserted at one point in it — from the network edge to the audit record, and from the device in the field to the executive dashboard.
Firewalls, IDS/IPS, VPN, network segmentation.
EDR, anti-malware, device hardening.
RBAC, MFA, SSO, PAM.
Encryption in transit and at rest, DLP.
SIEM, threat intelligence, 24/7 monitoring.
Policies, standards, audit, risk management.
Shared services every application draws on — built once, governed centrally, used everywhere.
Location treated as a first-class dimension of every event.
Pattern detection, prediction and decision support.
Centralised video capture, retention and retrieval.
The right message to the right responder, immediately.
Procedure encoded, so response does not depend on memory.
Records held to evidentiary and archival standards.
The disciplines that decide whether the platform still holds up in year five — not just on the day it is commissioned.
NG-IF, NIEM, ISO, OGC.
Ownership, definitions and warranted trust in the data.
Capacity that grows with demand rather than after it.
Degraded modes instead of outages.
Know the health of the platform before its users do.
Controlled change on a live operational system.
Technology does not run a command centre. Trained people, working to written procedure, around the clock, do.
Continuous watch, shift handover and escalation.
Operators, analysts and engineers.
Capability built and kept current, not assumed.
One documented way to respond — tested, and followed.
Architecture is a means. These seven are the ends — and the terms on which any implementation should be reviewed.
Commanders act on the current position, not yesterday's report.
Agencies work the same incident from the same picture.
What is happening, where, and what it means — as it happens.
Resources deployed where they change the outcome.
Threats seen earlier and answered sooner.
Every action logged, reviewable and auditable.
Citizens experience an institution that responds.
The framework is the reference. Getting from it to a command centre that agencies actually use follows three stages.
Establish what exists today — systems, feeds, networks, security posture, standards in use and the gaps between agencies.
Set the target architecture against the seven layers: integration model, security controls, interoperability standards and operating model.
Build, integrate and commission — then train the operators, write the procedures and hand over a room that runs.
CICA works with agencies and governments on command and control capability — architecture, interoperability, security operations, and the people who run the room.
Both diagrams are published in full resolution for briefings, proposals and internal circulation. Open one to read it at full size, or download the file.
The architecture set out on this page in a single view: input sources, the seven-layer stack, the cybersecurity layer spanning all of it, supported agencies and the outcomes it delivers.
The strategic companion view: vision and mission, stakeholder agencies and their mandates, the operating layer, information flow, governance and enablement, guiding principles and value to the nation.
