FirstNet News
The PSAC met on June 6 in San Diego, California, with the morning session open to the public and available via webcast. During the public session, Board members and FirstNet leadership provided updates on the FirstNet Roadmap, identifying completed and upcoming project milestones. Additionally, PSAC Task Team Chairs provided updates on the progress of the Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM) and Local Control task teams ahead of their final recommendations to FirstNet this summer. The PSAC Working Group Chairs spoke about the activities of the Early Builders and Tribal working groups, and PSAC Chair Harlin McEwen announced the upcoming formation of the Federal Working Group, which will provide an opportunity to further engage federal public safety stakeholders. The afternoon’s closed sessions featured updates from the FirstNet Office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program, as well as discussion of state/territory and federal consultation efforts, the State Plan process, and potential future PSAC taskings. Members expressed interest in future taskings related to video streaming policies and the addition of a FirstNet presence in the nationwide Communications Unit governance structure currently in development.
Thank you to those PSAC members who were able to attend the PSAC meeting last week in San Diego. A special thank you to those who participated in video interviews for future FirstNet media products with our Communications team. If you would like to work with our Communications team on guest blogs or other media pieces, please contact Kyle Richardson at kyle.richardson@firstnet.gov.
Last week, FirstNet staff and leadership participated in the PSCR Conference, with FirstNet Board Chair Sue Swenson and CTO Jeff Bratcher providing keynote speeches. Sue Swenson discussed the strides FirstNet has made over the last year, including further building the organization, continued outreach to public safety, and releasing the request for proposal (RFP) for the deployment of the nationwide public safety broadband network. She emphasized that important work still remains and urged everyone to plan for the excellent operation of public safety’s network. Harlin McEwen joined a panel to discuss identity management, and Jeff Bratcher spoke on international public safety LTE deployment efforts with other experts from the UK, South Korea, and Canada. Other panels and keynotes at the conference focused on ways for public safety and industry to engage with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Public Safety Innovation Accelerator for R&D prizes and competitions, as well as current research on Mission Critical Push-to-Talk standards, audio quality, location based-information and services, and cybersecurity.
FirstNet continued its participation in State Governance Body Consultation Meetings last week with presentations in Montana and Nevada. On June 6, FirstNet delivered a presentation to the Nevada Public Safety Communications Committee in Carson City. The meeting was attended by about 40 public safety personnel from different agencies across Nevada. FirstNet fielded questions related to priority and preemption, local control, and subscription and device costs. Participants also inquired about FirstNet’s intent to leverage extensive federal infrastructure in the state, as well as the prospect of ensuring coverage in rural and tribal areas. On June 9, FirstNet presented to the Montana Statewide Interoperability Governing Board. The meeting was attended by over 25 public safety representatives from multi-jurisdictional disciplines, the Governor’s office, and local government. Questions centered on rural coverage, LMR, and phases of the network build-out. The Montana SPOC team is looking forward to hosting the Region 8 Consultation Task Team in Bozeman this summer. FirstNet has now completed 20 Governance Body Consultation Meetings.
Also last week, FirstNet staff attended the June meeting of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) held in San Diego. FirstNet staff provided a brief overview and update on FirstNet to over 30 tribal government leaders in attendance. Shortly thereafter, the following resolution of support was put forward by the group’s executive board: “CNIGA board strongly encourages California Governor, Jerry Brown and California Office of Emergency Services Director, Mark Ghilarducci to support the adoption of the FirstNet Network to expand the mission critical data capabilities and resources available to public safety across California.” The resolution was approved unanimously by the CNIGA membership.
FirstNet is expanding its outreach and is now on Facebook! We are encouraging the PSAC members and their organizations to like our page – please search “FirstNetGov” on Facebook or click on this link: www.facebook.com/firstnetgov. We will use our Facebook page to highlight the work of public safety personnel across the country and the benefits of using broadband technologies.
FirstNet is accepting applications for a consultation lead for the U.S. Territories – West, located in Region 9, which closes Friday, June 17: Link to vacancy announcement: NTIA-FRNA-2016-0127. This is a remote worker position. The employee will telework full-time from their residence; therefore, applicants must reside, or be willing to relocate at their own expense, to American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, or Northern Marian Islands.
This week, FirstNet is participating in the Montana Fire Alliance Annual meeting in Anaconda; the National Association of State 9-1-1 Coordinators Annual Meeting and the National Emergency Number Association 2016 Annual Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana; the Western Governors Association 2016 Annual Meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System Annual Conference in Springfield; the Smart Cities Innovation Summit in Austin, Texas; the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors Public Safety Committee teleconference call; the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Region 19 700/800MHz Committee meeting in Putney, Vermont; the Federal Geographic Data Committee meeting in Washington, DC; the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) public meeting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; the Michigan 5th District Medical Response Coalition in Kalamazoo; the Intelligent Transportation Society America 2016 Conference in Sacramento, California; the District of Columbia/Federal Public Safety Agencies Communications/Interoperability Summit in Washington, DC; the Render Safe Communications Working Group in Fort Bragg, North Carolina; the Maine Intertribal Meeting in Indian Township; the Wyoming Governance Body meeting in Riverton; the Missouri Governance Body meeting in Jefferson City; the Kansas Governance Body meeting in Topeka; the PEIS public meeting in Trenton, New Jersey; the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 1 Regional Emergency Communications Coordination Working Group (RECCWG) meeting in Maynard, Massachusetts; the 2016 International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) International HAZMAT Response Teams conference in Baltimore, Maryland; the PEIS public meeting in Dover, Delaware; and the Rocky Mountain Trauma Conference in Denver, Colorado.
News from the PSAC, States and Territories
The ICAM and Local Control task teams have their final meetings this week, on June 14 and June 16, respectively. Both task teams are still on track to submit their final recommendations to FirstNet via the PSAC Executive Committee (EC) by July 28, 2016.
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.
Fortune 6/7: Wireless Companies Join Tech and Security Firms for Big Bid on Emergency Spectrum. http://fortune.com/2016/06/07/firstnet-rivada/ Companies spanning the telecom, tech, and security industries announced a partnership on Tuesday that seeks to win a $6.5 billion contract to build a national emergency network. Their bid also contains a major economic twist that could, if successful, see the companies shake up how companies buy and sell precious wireless spectrum.
Urgent Communications 6/8: Swenson says FirstNet received bids, system cannot be ‘just any other network’ http://urgentcomm.com/ntiafirstnet/swenson-says-firstnet-received-bids-system-cannot-be-just-any-other-network. SAN DIEGO—Now that FirstNet has received bids from offeror teams willing to build and maintain a nationwide public-safety broadband network, the organization must prepare to be “absolutely excellent” in its service to its first-responder users, FirstNet Chairwoman Sue Swenson said yesterday.
Web and Social Media
FirstNet social media continues to grow at a steady pace. Twitter gained over 35 new followers and is now at 3,756 followers, while LinkedIn has 1,545 followers. YouTube now has 285 subscribers. The “soft launch” of FirstNet’s Facebook page has already gained 120 followers.
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.