FirstNet News
The Federal Consultation Team met last week with the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Public Safety Communications Working Group and, along with FirstNet CTO staff, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) CIO, providing updates on current FirstNet activities and other topics such as the current vision for the application and device ecosystem
This week, FirstNet Board Member Governor Jim Douglas and Director of Government Affairs Edward Parkinson are traveling to Des Moines, Iowa for the annual summer meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA). Currently 30 governors are scheduled to attend, and both presumptive Presidential nominees have been invited.
Also this week, FirstNet is participating in the NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association Southeast Regional Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia; the Alaska Governance Workshop in Anchorage; the Region 5 quality of service, priority and preemption (QPP) consultation task team (CTT) meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota; the New York State Chiefs of Police Summer Meeting in Buffalo; the 2016 First Responder Resource Group conference in Washington, DC; the Florida EMS ClinCon in Orlando; the West Virginia Governance Body meeting in Sutton; the Oklahoma Governance Body meeting in Oklahoma City; the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Interior Budget Council meeting in Rapid City, South Dakota; the Virginia Regional Preparedness Advisory Committee for Interoperability-Region II meeting in Culpepper; the Arizona Fire Chiefs 2016 Fire & EMS Leadership conference in Glendale; the Tennessee EMS Education Association conference in Murfreesboro; and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Technical Committee meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Last week, FirstNet posted two new blog entries: Connecting with the Public Safety Community Through Social Media and FirstNet Outlines Key Steps for Development of State Plans, Interoperability Requirements. All blog posts can also be accessed at: www.firstnet.gov/newsroom/blog.
News from the PSAC, States and Territories
The Identity, Credential and Access Management (ICAM) and Local Control Task Teams are on track to submit their final recommendations to FirstNet via the PSAC Executive Committee (EC) no later than July 28, 2016.
The PSAC Tribal Working Group (TWG) will meet for their monthly conference call Tuesday, July 12 from 2:30-3:30 PM ET.
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.
Safer Buildings Coalition 07/07: FirstNet Bid Update – Marching Forward
http://saferbuildings.org/firstnet-gears-accelerated-march-forward/
The window for bidding in the First Responder Network Authority’s request for proposals has closed, evaluations are underway and a contract is expected to be awarded by early November if all goes as hoped. The brain-storming phase of the planned nationwide network is morphing into the doing phase, and FirstNet officials are warning that the next 18 months will be a whirlwind of activity and decisions. As momentum surrounding the FirstNet bid gathers, there will be more integral involvement from players in the federal sector, new task teams launched and accelerated outreach to the states and major metropolitan areas to get the right message out to the front lines.
Homeland Preparedness News 07/06: FirstNet prepares for deployment of nationwide public safety broadband network
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) moved forward on Friday with its preparations for a public-private partnership to deploy and operate a nationwide public safety broadband network. During their meeting in Chicago, the FirstNet board of directors provided strategic guidance for the overall plan and indicated that deployment remains on track for November
The National Law Review 07/05: FirstNet Resolutions
Last week the Board of Directors of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) met in Chicago, Illinois and adopted resolutions approving a new five-year lease for its technical headquarters in Boulder, Colorado and updated the charter for the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC). FirstNet’s leadership also provided strategic guidance to position itself for a public-private partnership and eventual deployment of the network following the award of the contract, which remains on track for November 2016.
Web and Social Media
FirstNet social media continues to grow. Facebook has 193 followers, Twitter gained 10 new followers and is now at 3,870 followers, while LinkedIn has 1,596 followers. YouTube now has 290 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.