First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) officials yesterday held a kick-off meeting with counterparts from more than a dozen federal departments and agencies. “The main objectives of the meeting were to enhance federal agencies’ understanding of FirstNet’s consultation process and to discuss future outreach and engagement between FirstNet and its federal partners,” Chris Algiere, FirstNet’s Federal Outreach Branch chief, said in a blog posting today. “The principal result of the kickoff summit was the preparation of the federal agencies for the FirstNet consultation process. FirstNet will be delivering to the agency points of contact an initial consultation checklist that is similar to the one used by states and territories. Using the information gained from the checklist, FirstNet will schedule one-one-one meetings with the agencies in the coming months to begin discussing their needs and requirements for the network.” Although FirstNet stresses that one of its chief goals is transparency, yesterday’s meeting was closed to the public and the news media.