FirstNet News
FirstNet President TJ Kennedy provided a keynote speech on Tuesday at the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) UNITE 2017 Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. On Wednesday, he gave another keynote speech at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) DC Mobile Technology Summit in Washington.
FirstNet Board member Kevin McGinnis spoke Tuesday during a general session at the Northwest Rural Health Conference in Seattle, Washington, highlighting the positive impact of FirstNet on rural EMS and community paramedicine.
Chief Customer Officer Rich Reed was in Montreal, Canada on Thursday to provide an “Introduction to FirstNet” presentation at the Global Infrastructure Leadership Forum.
Also last week, FirstNet Senior Advisor Bill Schrier provided a keynote speech entitled “FirstNet’s Edge” at the Association of Public Safety Communication Officials (APCO) Emerging Technology Forum in Raleigh, North Carolina.
FirstNet also participated in the California Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association (CalNENA) Conference in San Diego last week, presenting in two breakout sessions and meeting with key state communications and public safety leaders.
FirstNet Office of the Chief Technology Officer staff also attended the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona, Spain last week, the world’s largest gathering for the mobile industry.
This week, FirstNet will be participating in a Rhode Island Interoperable Communications Committee meeting in Lincoln; a Texas 9-1-1 Alliance District Directors meeting in San Antonio; an Inter-Tribal Emergency Response Commission of Nevada meeting in Elko; the North Carolina EMS Administrators Conference in Wilmington; the Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Mission Critical Voice Roundtable in Boulder, Colorado; a Metropolitan DC 9-1-1 Center Directors meeting in Arlington, Virginia; an Emergency Communications Preparedness Center Steering Committee meeting in Arlington, Virginia; tribal meetings with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Atmore, Alabama, and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in Philadelphia, Mississippi; and Tennessee Advanced Communications Network (TACN) Regional Public Safety Broadband Conferences in Jackson, Nashville, and Knoxville.
Last week, FirstNet posted two new blogs: PSAC Profile: Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association and FirstNet: Delivering to Public Safety the Capabilities They Need to Save Lives – Theirs and the Public’s. All blog posts are available at: www.firstnet.gov/newsroom/blog.
FirstNet’s quarterly newsletters are out! Visit FirstNet.gov to read and share the latest FirstNet updates for the Fire Rescue, EMS, Law Enforcement, and 9-1-1 communities. Sign up and share with our new online subscription.
News from the PSAC, States and Territories
FirstNet is planning to hold an in-person PSAC meeting on Thursday, June 15th, 2017, in San Antonio, Texas, after the conclusion of the PSCR annual conference. Further details on location and invitational travel are forthcoming, and PSAC members are asked to hold the date on their calendars. Please email PSAC@firstnet.gov with any questions.
The 2017 Tennessee Advanced Communications Network (TACN) Regional Public Safety Broadband Conferences are March 7th, 8th, and 9th from 10am-3pm. The Conferences are free to attend and lunch will be provided. Register at www.TACN.tech/events.
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.
Urgent Communications 3/3: Updated: Judge hears oral arguments in Rivada Mercury lawsuit protesting FirstNet procurement
Attorneys provided oral arguments today in Rivada Mercury’s lawsuit protesting the bidding team’s exclusion from the final stage of the FirstNet procurement process, bringing the case one step closer to a much-anticipated decision from U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Elaine Kaplan.
Nextgov 3/1: FirstNet’s Message To Tech: First Responders Could Be The Next Big Market
TJ Kennedy, president of FirstNet, the public private partnership building a broadband network exclusively for public safety users, needs private sector’s help coming up with new ways to securely authenticate devices, he said at an AFCEA event Wednesday.
Federal News Radio 3/1: Commerce secretary promises ‘special renaissance’ under Trump administration
Ross said he’s also looking to launch more weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and seeks universal implementation of FirstNet, the department’s first responder network. In order to achieve this, he called on the president to set appropriate funding levels for the department in his upcoming budget proposal.
Web and Social Media
FirstNet’s social media presence grew at the normal rate this week. Twitter gained 41 new followers, now at 5,151. Facebook has 749 followers. LinkedIn now has 1,888 followers. YouTube has 385 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 PSAC@firstnet.gov for possible inclusion in an upcoming update.