April 19, 2016, Access Spectrum announced an agreement with the Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Test Site to expand its capabilities to provide communications between unmanned aircraft and ground flight crews. The test site will use the upper 700 MHz A block spectrum. Read more here. http://mccmag.com/News/NewsDetails/newsID/14169
Month: April 2016
NIST Releases Road Map to Help it Spend $300M in R&D Funds
April 20, 2016–The National Institute of Standards and Technology today released a research and development road map for helping it decide how to spend $300 million in funding that the agency is getting from proceeds of the FCC’s AWS (advanced wireless services)-3 auction. “First responders are gaining access to large amounts of new data from diverse sources, and we need to be able to process it without overwhelming public safety,” said Deputy Commerce Secretary Bruce Andrews. “This roadmap allows NIST to begin to chart an R&D course to ensure that new data constructively transforms the way first responders carry out their missions.”
“The Public Safety Analytics R&D Roadmap is the second in a series of technology roadmaps that PSCR will develop over the next few years to better inform the investment decisions of R&D organizations supporting the public safety community,” according to the new road map. “After conducting additional roadmaps in other priority technology areas, PSCR [Public Safety Communications Research program] will identify the R&D project ideas that pose the greatest operational benefit to public safety and prioritize its Public Safety R&D program accordingly.”
“The new analytics roadmap suggests how data collection, processing, analysis and visualization techniques could generate valuable intelligence for public safety in the short term (0 to 5 years), medium term (5 to 10 years) and long term (10 to 20+ years),” a news release noted. “The roadmap identifies trends and drivers, technology capabilities and gaps, enabling actions and actors and potential operational benefits such as improved situational awareness.” Continue reading
Wheeler: FCC Played No Part in Formation of 911 Coalition
The FCC played no part in the formation earlier this year of a 911 coalition, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R., S.D.) in an April 4 letter.
In February, the National Emergency Number Association, the National Association of State 911 Administrators, and the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT) announced the formation of the NG911 NOW Coalition to push for nationwide next-generation 911 (NG-911) deployment by the end of 2020 (TRDaily, Feb. 23).
In a March 18 letter to Mr. Wheeler, Sen. Thune noted that the Chairman in January stressed the importance of NG-911 deployment (TRDaily, Jan. 29), and that he welcomed the formation of the coalition the day it was announced and during a March 2 hearing (TRDaily, March 2).
“While the goal of speeding deployment of NG911 is laudable, and one that I share, the timing of the NG911 NOW Coalition’s announcement, so soon after you called NG911 your ‘number-one item’ to discuss before Congress, and your subsequent efforts to create publicity for the group through a press release and congressional testimony, create the appearance that the Office of the Chairman may have been involved in, or advocated for, the coalition’s creation,” Mr. Thune suggested. “If so, such action could be contrary to the letter or spirit of the Anti-Lobbying Act or the fiscal year (FY) 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which prohibits the use of FY2016 funds for publicity or propaganda purposes.”
He asked whether Mr. Wheeler or any FCC staffers “played a role in the creation of the NG911 NOW Coalition?” Continue reading
Andy Seybold’s Public Safety Advocate, April 22, 2016
I read with interest the current version of FirstNet’s Tech Talk: Updated Vehicular Network System Vison which can be found here: http://firstnet.gov/newsroom/blog/tech-talk-updated-vehicular-network-system-vision it is a good vision and one that we were working on in 2013 for FirstNet but will some nice refinements to it. The satellite portion of the Vehicle Network System or VNS as they call it, makes sense for service in rural areas but I noticed that very important part of the satellite usage that was included in our version of this is missing from the FirstNet VNS. There is at least one company that is already building this VNS in several configurations and has some in service in rural tribal areas and with other types of customers and the results have been very gratifying.
After my comments about the emails I receive and try and answer each week I received a number of very positive emails from readers. One that I will share with you was from a subscriber who is very well versed in Push-to-Talk and all things Public Safety. He wrote: Great quote about the folks that think mission critical voice on FirstNet is here and he included a link to this quote by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens). I enjoyed the quote so thought that I would include it for all of you: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
The due date for the FirstNet RFP for choosing a partner to work with is May 31, 2016. It does not appear to me that there will be yet another extension to this due date and I am sure that all of those companies and partnerships which plan to submit a response are working very hard to make sure that they get the best proposal completed in time that they can. One of the things that I am most concerned about is the fact that anyone of the bidders could file a law suit after the award is made on a number of different grounds. In the LMR world and even in the LMR/LTE world this type of tactic has happened all too often. It stalled the LA-RICS system for over a year, it disrupted the Federal Government’s failed attempt to roll out a nationwide LMR network to be shared by multiple federal agencies (iWIN), and it has disrupted city and county procurements small and large. Sometimes these lawsuits are justified but normally they are simply sour grapes by the one of the losing bidders who does not take losing well. I sincerely hope that FirstNet and the public safety community will be spared the year or more delay in getting the construction of this network started because of a lawsuit.
Everyone involved has worked way too hard on this for way too many years to have to live though yet another delay in moving forward with this project. As I talk to many within the Public Safety community who were avidly following FirstNet’s progress I am finding that many of them have shelved their interest in the project based on the fact that it is moving so slowly. Many of those who were so hopeful for the creation of FirstNet will have retired by the time the network is ready for prime time and the generation who will take their places are much more skeptical of what FirstNet will actually be able to provide. The best outcome will be a clean bidding process with a clean set of responses making the decision about who to award the contract to a tough call for FirstNet and the many feds who will also be inserting their two cents into the process. The winner should be the company or group of companies that will be building the network not just to make money on the secondary spectrum use but to serve the public safety community as well. While FirstNet may be conducting the RFP and determining the winner, the most important part of this network are the customers, the public safety agencies that decide to get on board and make use of the network. If it is not built with them in mind then the very famous miss-quote from a very famous movie will, unfortunately, become the quote of the day: “If we build it they won’t come”. We cannot let this happen!” Andrew M Seybold
Here’s the aspect of FirstNet’s independence that should matter most to public-safety agencies … – Urgent Communications via Google Alerts Apr 19 15:15 … debate that the organization would be distracted from its most important task at hand: building a self-sustaining broadband network for public safety. Continue reading
Public Safety Communication Europe (PSCE) invites you to Mobile, Networked, Collaborative PPDR: How to Make IT Good?”
The workshop will explore the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) in Networked Information Exchange for PPDR. The ELSI workshop takes place on May 17, 2016. The workshop will precede the biannual PSCE Conference in Brussels, which will be held on May 18 and 19. The aim of the workshop will be to develop resources that support the PSCE community in defining proactive responses to ELSI arising in networked, collaborative PPDR, focusing on socio-technical innovation around information and communication technologies. Additionally, the workshop will contribute to raising awareness of ELSI by sharing experiences, interpretations of opportunities and challenges, and innovative responses in technology design.
The workshop will include presentations from the European Commission and several well-known research institutes from across Europe, including the Jozef Stefan Institute in Slovenia, the Vrije Universiteit in Belgium, KEMEA in Greece, and Trilateral Research and Consulting in the UK. Further information is available in the ELSI Workshop invitation here. For more information and to register for the workshop, please visit the PSCE website here. The workshop is free and open to anyone, but places are limited, so registration is required.
CALL FOR PAPERS: International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Disaster Management (ICT-DM’2016).
The 3rd ICT-DM will take place in Vienna, Austria, on December 13 – 15 , 2016. The Call for Papers and submission details are available under http://ict-dm.org. The Call for Papers can be downloaded under: Call for Papers ICT-DM 2016
IMPORTANT DATES: Submission deadline: June 01, 2016; Acceptance Notification: August 31, 2016 Camera-ready version: September 15, 201
SCOPE: ICT-DM’2016 aims to bring together academics and practitioners who are involved in emergency services, ad hoc planning, disaster recovery, etc., to learn about the latest research developments, share experiences and information about this area and develop recommendations. Authors are invited to submit manuscripts that present original unpublished research on using ICTs for detection, prevention, preparation, response and recovery of disasters. There will also be invited presentations by experts from academia, industry, and government as well as special sessions dedicated to case studies, demonstrations and experiences based on pragmatic approaches. This way, the conference will provide a forum for supporting and encouraging both academic researchers, as well as practitioners involved in applied‐focused research. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following scope: Continue reading
Governance, Coordination, Funding Seen as Keys to NG-911 Deployment
April 19, 2016–Governance, coordination, and funding are among the key ingredients to the successful deployment of next-generation 911 (NG-911) technology, experts said at an event today. Meanwhile, the chief of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau reiterated the agency’s call for Congress to step in to help facilitate NG-911 deployment, including by setting a nationwide transition deadline and funding grants.
911 and other issues were discussed today at the Emergency Response Technology Forum, which was held in Silver Spring, Md., outside Washington. The event was organized by the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT) and the IJIS Institute, an organization that focuses on information sharing and the safeguard of the justice, public safety, and homeland security sectors.
Evelyn Bailey, executive director of the National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA), said sometimes there can be “tension” between state and local 911 officials and state and federal 911 officials worried about their “turf.” “There really is a need with next-generation 911 to kind of start talking more together and just get rid of that stuff,” she said. “That stuff is counterproductive. It’s not going to get us to where we want to go.”
She noted that public safety answering points (PSAPs) were traditionally built and run in a decentralized fashion and they did not need to interact. In an IP-based world, they do need to, she said. Ms. Bailey emphasized the need for strong state governance, including “the scope of authority” and rules, as well as funding. “It’s going to cost more if it happens on a haphazard basis, region by region, local by local,” she said. Continue reading
&T Press Release: DHS S&T Demonstrates Precision Timing Technology at the New York Stock Exchange
WASHINGTON, April 20– The Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced today the successful demonstration of the Enhanced Loran (eLoran), a precision-timing technology for financial transactions at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
eLoran is a low-frequency, high-power radio navigation signal that is broadcasted by ground-based transmission stations, allowing the signal to penetrate through buildings and provide precision timing indoors and throughout urban environments.
“Accurate position, navigation, and timing is necessary for the function and integrity of many critical infrastructure sectors, such as the electric grid, communication networks, and financial institutions,” said DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology Dr. Reginald Brothers. “Ensuring the continuous and uninterrupted availability of critical information ensures our national security.” Continue reading
EAS Test System Info Provided
The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau today issued a public notice providing information about a new Emergency Alert System (EAS) Test Reporting System (ETRS) that the agency plans to launch this year with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “As described in this Public Notice, the ETRS is designed to increase the reliability and value proposition of the EAS, while minimizing reporting burdens on EAS Participants,” the bureau said. “The ETRS will be able to accurately chart what happened in a particular test, as well as allow state alert originators and SECCs [state emergency communications committees] to understand ahead of time how an alert will propagate through a particular state, thus identifying potential single points of failure, poor transmission paths, and coverage gaps before they can potentially cause a system failure.” Meanwhile, FEMA informed the Public Safety Bureau in a letter posted today in PS docket 15-94 that it plans to conduct a national EAS test on Sept. 28 and that it wants to meet with FCC representatives on the test.
Courtesy TRDaily
License Transfer Comment Sought
The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau today sought comment today on the transfer of a lower 700 megahertz B-block license in New Jersey from Qualcomm, Inc., to AT&T, Inc. Petitions to deny are due May 9, oppositions May 16, and replies May 23 in WT docket 16-75. The bureau is using the agency’s “enhanced review” standard because AT&T would have more than one-third of sub-1 gigahertz spectrum.