FirstNet News
Last week, FirstNet Board member Rich Stanek and President TJ Kennedy held meetings with the leaders of the National Sheriffs Association and the Fraternal Order of Police in the Washington, DC area. Both meetings were opportunities to provide programmatic updates and hold productive dialogue with two of the biggest public safety trade associations in the country.
On Tuesday, FirstNet staff attended the FirstNetNC Tech Expo hosted by the North Carolina SPOC team in Raleigh. The FirstNet presentation concentrated on State Plan delivery, adoption, and the need for stakeholder feedback and participation to truly make the FirstNet network public safety’s network.
On Thursday, Board member Rich Stanek and FirstNet staff presented a FirstNet update to the Arizona Sheriffs’ Association Conference in Phoenix. Discussion and questions included the topics of rural coverage, timelines, and budget.
On Friday, Board member Chris Burbank and FirstNet staff addressed the California Police Chiefs Association Conference in Huntington Beach. They provided updates on the status of the RFP, the state plan process and timeline, as well as a review of the FirstNet benefits, including priority and preemption.
Last week, FirstNet also participated in the 10th Annual Canadian Interoperability Technology Interest Group (CITIG) workshop in Vancouver, British Columbia. CITIG presented an opportunity for FirstNet to interact with Canadian public safety and government officials as Canada moves toward implementation of their own public safety broadband network.
This week, FirstNet will be participating in the All-Hazards Incident Management Teams Association Conference in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; the Democratic Governors Association Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana; a Rhode Island Interoperable Communications Committee meeting in Lincoln; a California Broadband Council meeting in Sacramento; a meeting with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in Ignacio, Colorado; and the National Conference of State Legislatures Capitol Forum in Washington, DC.
Last week, FirstNet posted two new blog posts: Fall SPOC Meeting Helps with Prep for State Plans, Governor’s Decision and Hualapai Nation Police Chief Francis Bradley on FirstNet and the “Mobile Officer”. All blog posts are available on the FirstNet blog at: www.firstnet.gov/newsroom/blog.
The Fall 2016 911 Newsletter can now be found at the FirstNet Newsroom.
News from the PSAC, States and Territories
Final preparations are underway for the full in-person PSAC meeting December 14-15 in Sacramento, California, at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Sacramento. The meeting will be available via teleconference to the first 100 participants on December 14 from 1:30pm-3:45pm PST at 866.918.6298 PIN: 6645537. On-site registration for attendees will be available, as space is limited.
Media Watch
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GCN 12/1: FirstNet Preps for New Network with Test Lab
https://gcn.com/articles/2016/12/01/firstnet-test-lab.aspx
The First Responder Network Authority continues its march toward delivering a nationwide broadband network to public safety workers with the FirstNet Innovation and Test Lab. Opened Nov. 9 in FirstNet’s Boulder, Colo., technical headquarters, the lab is intended to be a “plug and play” environment in which the authority and its future industry partners will test apps, devices and features before deploying them to the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network.
Web and Social Media
FirstNet’s social media presence grew at the normal rate this week. Twitter gained 42 new followers, now at 4,649. Facebook has 528 followers. LinkedIn now has 1,782 followers. YouTube has 364 subscribers.