NICS is a web-based command & control system for small to large to extreme scale incidents that facilitates collaboration across Federal, Tribal, Military, State, County, & Local/Municipal levels of preparedness, planning, response, and recovery for all-risk/all-hazard events. NICS facilitates situational awareness for widely dispersed responders.

NICS is co-sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate and NATO Science for Peace and Security. NICS is being developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory in partnership with the operators from the First Responder Community.

NICS is:
* Based upon Open standards
* Non-proprietary: Not vendor owned; this is a community development project
* Always improving: Like the Web, NICS will never be done; it will always be improved and adapted by the community
* Aimed at the "Tired–Dirty–Hungry": Carefully designed for the responder under extreme stress
* Focused on scalability: Technology for small to large to extreme scale incidents

NICS provides collaboration and communication capabilities across all echelons of responders; it enhances the quality and accessibility of sensor data; and it integrates location data for resources, vehicles, and personnel. During an incident, NICS provides an information backbone that manages and distributes data, including real-time vehicle location feeds, weather, critical infrastructure, and terrain information.