FirstNet News
The annual National Police Week and EMS Week are being celebrated in communities across the Nation this week. To commemorate these events, FirstNet has developed videos (noted below) to recognize the women and men that serve in these key public safety disciplines. Please feel free to share within your states and associations.
To honor the Law Enforcement community, please see the following message from PSAC Chair Harlin McEwen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b2mmujt_rU. For more information, please visit our Police Week 2016 web page.
The entire FirstNet organization extends our sincerest appreciation to all our nation’s paramedics and other public safety personnel for the important work they do every day. Please see following message from FirstNet Board Member Kevin McGinnis on EMS Week 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAjoOtbBaKo
FirstNet continued its participation in State Governance Body Consultation Meetings last week with a presentation to the Oregon State Interoperability Executive Council and Broadband Advisory Council on May 10. The meeting was attended by approximately 35 public safety stakeholders from different agencies across Oregon. FirstNet staff engaged in productive dialogue and fielded questions related to coverage objectives, public safety applications, and the State Plan development and delivery process. Attendees also inquired about prioritization of users, devices, and the FirstNet implementation timeline. FirstNet has now completed 12 Governance Body Consultation Meetings.
Also in Oregon last week, FirstNet, along with the Oregon SPOC team, met with officials from Portland Fire and Rescue, the Portland Police Bureau, the Portland Bureau of Technology Services, and the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer. The meetings covered a wide range of topics, including updates on the request for proposal (RFP), the data collected on the Portland metro area, and the specific wireless broadband needs of the city’s public safety agencies. FirstNet will participate in a similar engagement this week in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as upcoming national association meetings, to preview and seek interest regarding metropolitan area engagement with FirstNet. FirstNet Board members, leadership, and staff are confirmed to participate in conferences hosted by the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, the Major County Sheriffs Association, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Last week, FirstNet published a new entry on its blog: The FirstNet Experience: Ohio’s Video Game Virtually Demonstrates Network’s Potential, which was then reposted by EMS World. An article on FirstNet’s work related to applications was published in APCO’s monthly magazine in time for the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) Broadband Summit this week in Washington, DC. Also, the FirstNet video on Puerto Rico’s fire service personnel was published in the International Public Safety Association’s weekly newsletter. Additionally, last week’s blog on wildfire awareness was shared in a National Association of State Foresters newsletter, which reaches a niche group of 2,000 first responders. All blog posts can also be accessed through the FirstNet blog landing page at: www.firstnet.gov/newsroom/blog.
This week, FirstNet is participating in the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Volunteer and Combination Officers Symposium in the West in Reno, Nevada; the Metro Fire Chiefs Association (MFCA) Conference in Long Beach, California; a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) public meeting in Washington, DC; the APCO 2016 Public Safety Broadband Summit in Washington, DC; the Government Performance Summit 2016 in Washington, DC; the DC Interoperable Communications Committee meeting in Washington, DC; the DC Unified Communications Center meeting in Washington, DC; the New York State 9-1-1 Coordinators Conference in Corning, New York; the Atlanta Metropolitan engagement meeting in Atlanta, Georgia; a PEIS public meeting in Annapolis, Maryland; the Colorado Governance Body Consultation meeting in Arvada, Colorado; and the Nebraska Governance Body Consultation Meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska.
News from the PSAC, States and Territories, and Federal Partners
The Public Safety Communications Research project (PSCR), in conjunction with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has just released several new roadmap documents to its public safety research and design work. Please take a look at the links below for more information:
Location based services (LBS) Roadmap: http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/TechnicalNotes/NIST.TN.1883.pdf
LBS Summit: http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/TechnicalNotes/NIST.TN.1914.pdf
Analytics Roadmap: http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/TechnicalNotes/NIST.TN.1917.pdf
The PSAC Local Control task team met on Thursday, May 12 to review its initial recommendations to FirstNet. They will next meet on Thursday, May 19 to discuss onboarding.
The PSAC Identity, Credential and Access Management (ICAM) task team met on Tuesday, May 10 to discuss user attributes, federation, and single sign on (SSO). They will next meet on Tuesday, May 24 to wrap up federation.
The PSAC Early Builders Working Group (EBWG) held their monthly meeting last week to share lessons learned.
Preparations are underway for the next in-person PSAC meeting, scheduled for Monday, June 6 in San Diego, California. Thank you to those who have registered. An agenda is forthcoming.
Media Watch
*The information provided is copied as-is from the media outlet source and is not edited by FirstNet. Links to non-Federal Government websites do not constitute endorsement of any product, service, organization, company, information provider, or content. Clicking on non-Department of Commerce hyperlinks will direct you to websites that are not under the Government’s control.
Mission Critical Communications 5/11: FirstNet Continues States Data Collection, Won’t Affect Procurement
http://www.mccmag.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/14262
A First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) executive said that although the entity is accepting additional data from states, the data will not be incorporated into FirstNet’s acquisition process or considered for proposal evaluations. The initial data submitted by states and territories in 2015, on behalf of local, state and tribal public-safety agencies, was used to inform FirstNet’s request for proposals (RFP). Bids are due at the end of the month. Those original inputs have been frozen and will not be changed, said Brian Hobson, FirstNet state plans technical lead, in a blog.
Calibre Press 5/12: How FirstNet Will Enhance Officer Safety (By Mike Poth)
http://calibrepress.com/2016/05/how-firstnet-will-enhance-officer-safety/
The men and women of public safety deserve the best available tools to protect our communities. For example, body-worn, as well as dashboard cameras, and intelligent wearable devices connected to smartphones, can improve public safety operations by communicating on-scene data to dispatch and real-time crime centers. To be able to use technologies like these, we must first have the infrastructure available in the form of a broadband network. That’s where FirstNet comes in.
Web and Social Media
FirstNet social media continues to grow at a steady pace. Twitter gained over 35 new followers and is now at 3,630 followers, while LinkedIn has 1,500 followers. YouTube now has 270 subscribers. Do you have something you want to feature in the weekly update, such as a conference date, personnel announcement, or news article showcasing the work of your organization? Please send it to Yancy Edwards at yancy.edwards.ctr@firstnet.gov for possible inclusion in an upcoming update.