Digital Data Management System (DDMS)
The Digital Data Management System (DDMS) is the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel's (ASLBP) hearing management support system that combines electronic evidence presentation, real-time transcription, and digital recording to provide users with a means to present most evidence in an electronic fashion and have it incorporated into the digital record of the proceeding. The DDMS also provides greater public access to ASLBP hearings by the use of evidence display monitors and Internet-available web broadcasts. The DDMS also provides greater access to disabled persons by providing closed captioning, assisted listening, and compatibility with screen-reading technology.
On this page:
What the DDMS Does
The DDMS enhances the ASLBP’s ability to conduct efficient and effective hearings, provides support for agency and judicial appellate processes, and provides comprehensive real-time public access to information presented during the hearing. The DDMS brings information technology and audio/visual capabilities into the ASLBP hearing room, which supports information management for the proceedings during the pre-hearing, hearing, and post-hearing phases.
The DDMS has the capability to capture the audio and video of an entire hearing. The Rockville hearing room has digital cameras that are voice-activated and capture each speaker when evidence is not being displayed. The hearing room is equipped with digital recording devices.
The DDMS also records, stores, and displays the text and image of documentary materials presented during the hearing using pre-filed electronic documents from the Electronic Hearing Docket (EHD). Counsel for the parties can also bring prepared digital materials and exhibits to the evidentiary hearing electronically and have those materials accessible in the hearing room.
The DDMS thus enables the creation of an integrated, comprehensive digital record for agency licensing and enforcement cases, including documentary information such as daily transcripts and exhibits, audio recordings, video presentations such as prerecorded testimony and simulation models, and recordings of hearing sessions in an electronic format.
Presentation of Evidence
DDMS allows the presentation of evidence via many different methods. Pre-filed evidentiary materials and testimony of witnesses and witness panels can be viewed on the monitors in the hearing room. A document camera can focus on and digitally capture paper documents and physical objects that are brought into a hearing room. Electronic media such as DVD’s, VHS tapes, video camcorder tapes, mp3-type audio files, cassette tapes, etc., can be played in the hearing rooms and captured for the record. Laptop/computer outputs can also be displayed and captured. Touch screen monitors allow annotation of electronic exhibits.
Remote Hearing Participation
The Rockville hearing room offers the capability for witnesses, attorneys, or judicial staff to participate in hearings from a remote location.
A teleconference system affords participants who cannot be present at the hearing an opportunity to actively participate. The individual participating remotely will hear all of the audio from the hearing room, including any associated with evidence that is presented, and when speaking, will be heard by everyone in the hearing room.
The hearing room video conference system similarly enables individuals to participate in a hearing when they cannot be physically present in the hearing venue. In addition to providing audio to the remote location, the video conference system has the capability to send real-time video, including documentary evidence, to the remote location so that participants can hear and view the evidentiary presentations.
Hearing Room Features
The hearing room environment offers several options for viewing public hearings. The hearing room is equipped with large flat screen video displays that are positioned for viewing by individuals in the public seating section of the hearing room. The image that is displayed on those monitors is the same image that appears in the digital recording of the proceeding.
The system also offers assistance to those who are hearing impaired. In instances where a real-time court reporter is available, the system will display the text generated by the reporter as closed-captioning on all monitors in the hearing room. Infrared assisted listening headsets are also available at any time, and may be used for simultaneous language interpretation as well.
