Forming the Public Safety Next Generation 9-1-1 Coalition

Looking back at 2020, one of the bright spots for APCO was joining with other leading public safety associations to advocate for legislation that would establish a significant one-time federal grant program to achieve Next Generation 9‑1‑1 (NG9‑1‑1) nationwide.

Following months of collaboration between various public safety associations and congressional staff, the Next Generation 9-1-1 Act of 2019 (H.R. 2760; S. 1479), was introduced in May 2019. The bill would authorize $12 billion in federal funding to help state and local governments deploy NG9-1-1, preserve state and local control, modernize definitions of key terms such as NG9-1-1, interoperability, and Emergency Communications Center (ECC), and place conditions on grant recipients to achieve interoperability, prevent 9‑1‑1 fee diversion, and have a sustainable funding mechanism in place for ongoing operational needs. The introduction of this bill was a great starting point for building momentum in Congress and raising awareness of the need for significant federal support to update 9‑1‑1 systems across the country.

After the bill was introduced, APCO joined with national public safety organizations representing fire/rescue, emergency medical service, and law enforcement professionals to establish a formal coalition for ongoing advocacy known as the Public Safety Next Generation 9-1-1 Coalition. This cross-section of public safety will be more effective than any one group alone at building support in Congress, and the broad participation helps to convey the fact that NG9‑1‑1 upgrades will benefit all areas of public safety.

The Coalition is committed to advancing legislation to enable a nationwide upgrade to NG9‑1‑1 that is interoperable, competitive, innovative, and secure. The member organizations united behind legislative principles that will address the needs and concerns of public safety. For example, NG9‑1‑1 should be technologically and competitively neutral, and use commonly accepted standards that do not lead to proprietary solutions that hamper interoperability, make mutual aid between agencies less effective, limit choices, or increase costs. With principles like this in mind, the Coalition developed several additional measures to make the legislation more impactful, including increasing the level of funding, establishing a public safety advisory board, creating additional measures on cybersecurity, and bolstering the interoperability provisions.

The Coalition is advocating for federal grant funding in the amount of $15 billion. Achieving NG9‑1‑1 uniformly throughout the United States will require a significant influx of federal funding, particularly in light of the anticipated budget shortfalls as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. To assist with the development of grant program requirements, a new Public Safety Advisory Board would be established with representatives from 9‑1‑1 and other public safety disciplines. Among other things, the board would provide a variety of recommendations regarding the importance of deploying NG9‑1‑1 in both rural and urban areas, ensuring flexibility for technology improvements, and the value of enabling effective coordination among government entities.

Part of the advocacy effort entails promoting a common vision that achieving NG9‑1‑1 will result in true interoperability and multimedia capabilities across the emergency communications ecosystem. ECCs still have interoperability problems when it comes to transferring voice calls to other ECCs, even when both centers have deployed Emergency Services IP Networks. And NG9‑1‑1 should go beyond voice-only calls and enable ECCs to receive, process, and analyze all types of 9‑1‑1 requests for emergency assistance and share relevant information with other ECCs and emergency responders.

A joint public safety effort like this has not been undertaken since the Public Safety Alliance (which included many of the same organizations as the new Coalition) came together nearly a decade ago and successfully lobbied Congress to pass the law that created FirstNet, established a $115M 9‑1‑1 grant program, and provided hundreds of millions of dollars for public safety communications research. As 2021 begins, APCO and its Coalition partners will continue to make NG9‑1‑1 a legislative priority and press for a similar success.

You can contact APCO’s Government Relations Office with any feedback by emailing [email protected].

About the TabletopX Blog

A “Tabletop Exercise,” often shortened as “TTX,” is a discussion-based exercise frequently used by emergency planners. Led by a facilitator using a planned scenario, TTX participants describe the actions they would take, and the processes and procedures they would follow. The facilitator notes the players’ contributions and ensures that exercise objectives are met. Following the exercise, the facilitator typically develops an after-action report and conducts a debrief discussion during which players and observers have an opportunity to share their thoughts, observations, and recommendations from the exercise without assigning fault or blame.

Many of the attributes of a TTX are the same we seek to promote in the discussion generated from our blog posts. The goal is to capitalize on the shared experiences and expertise of all the participants to identify best practices, as well as areas for improvement, and thus achieve as successful a response to an emergency as possible.

TabletopX blog posts are written by APCO’s Government Relations team and special guests.

Latest TabletopX Posts

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New FCC Spectrum Rules Put Public Safety Communications at Risk

By Jeff Cohen

APCO recently filed two formal petitions with the FCC regarding a major change it made to regulations that govern the use of spectrum that is relied upon by public safety. One was a Petition for Reconsideration, urging the FCC to repeal the new rules and fix numerous problems; the other was a Petition for Stay, asking the FCC to prohibit anyone from taking advantage of the new rules while the Petition for Reconsideration is under review. Together, these petitions are just one step short of challenging the FCC’s rules in federal court. This is a rare move for APCO, but it was necessary given the real risk of irreparable harm to public safety.

How Did We Get Here?

In April, the FCC made a major change to its rules governing the 6 GHz band. The goal was to make more spectrum available for unlicensed use to support things like “next generation Wi-Fi.” To do this, the FCC decided to open up a large pool of spectrum in the 6 GHz band, which is predominantly used for licensed point-to-point microwave links. Several stakeholders, including multiple public safety organizations, voiced concerns with the FCC’s plan for sharing the 6 GHz band.

Public safety agencies extensively use the 6 GHz band for mission critical systems that support operational needs such as dispatching first responders and maintaining land mobile radio communications during incidents. Disruption to these systems could have dire consequences. Assistance to the public could be delayed. Law enforcement officers, emergency medical technicians, and firefighters might lack the ability to transmit emergency calls for assistance and other information essential for protecting life and property. Other current users of the 6 GHz band use links for coordination of railroad train movements, control of natural gas and oil pipelines, management of electric grids, and telephone service.

These microwave links require prior frequency coordination and an FCC license to operate, and they’re extremely dependable, on the order of 99.999% reliability or better (which means less than ~5 minutes of downtime a year). If the 6 GHz band becomes unreliable for mission critical communications, public safety agencies will not have good options. In the best-case scenario, public safety agencies would have to pay to switch to fiber connections or less suitable microwave links that would likely involve much higher costs (and it’s not clear that such options would even be available). That’s not fair to public safety, and there’s a way to share spectrum without so much risk.

In APCO’s advocacy to the FCC, we made clear that we weren’t completely opposed to the idea of public safety sharing spectrum with unlicensed users, provided that the spectrum sharing approach was thoroughly evaluated and proven effective before putting public safety communications at risk. That’s not what happened. In fact, the FCC adopted the new rules without directly addressing public safety’s concerns at all, which federal judges have said the FCC is required to do by law.

A High-Level Description of the FCC’s New Rules

The FCC’s new rules allow operation of unlicensed “standard power” and “low power” transmitters (“access points”). The expectation is that hundreds of millions of these devices would eventually be used for hotspot networks, rural broadband, and Wi-Fi routers in homes, schools, businesses, etc. The FCC established different rules for the two types of access points to reduce the likelihood of interference to licensed users like public safety.

For standard power devices, the ability to prevent interference depends on an automated frequency coordination (AFC) system’s ability to assign frequencies to unlicensed access points by defining exclusion zones that restrict transmissions in locations that could interfere with licensed users. The AFC is a relatively new concept that has never been used for sharing spectrum with public safety. One of APCO’s basic concerns has been that a new spectrum sharing tool like the AFC needs to be thoroughly tested before being launched for real-world use where there could be harm to public safety. This would be an entirely reasonable approach. Yet, before testing to prove this kind of spectrum sharing can work, the FCC decided to allow deployment of these new devices, and it’s not clear what testing requirements will ever be imposed. To make matters worse, there are several major gaps in the plan for how an AFC would work that make it unlikely that it will be able to prevent interference to public safety.

For low power devices, there wouldn’t even be an AFC that would attempt to prevent unlicensed access points from using the same frequencies being used by public safety. Instead, the FCC made a rule that these devices stay indoors, and the FCC assumes they’ll be too weak to cause interference. APCO expressed concern that nothing will prevent people from using these devices outdoors on balconies and rooftops, and even if the devices stay indoors, we don’t necessarily agree with the assumption that building walls and windows will prevent the signals from causing interference.

But there’s even a more fundamental problem with the entire FCC scheme. Instead of establishing requirements we would expect to ensure that interference caused to public safety is promptly identified and eliminated, the FCC abandoned this obligation in favor of only “encouraging” the very same unlicensed companies that are benefiting from the new rules to voluntarily address these key issues. When interference occurs, the only information available to public safety agencies will be that the microwave link has stopped providing the mission critical communications it was designed for. These systems are not designed to detect interference and are incapable of attributing it to a particular source. Attempting to identify the source(s) of interference is a long, resource-intensive, expensive process – particularly when dealing with unlicensed devices – and many questions remain regarding how to promptly eliminate interference after the source has been identified.

APCO raised many concerns during a formal public comment period and after the FCC released a draft of the rules it planned to adopt. For whatever reason – maybe the significant amount of debate on technical issues, maybe the intense pressure from companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft that were lobbying for the new rules – the Commission overlooked public safety.

If the rules move forward uncorrected, public safety will suffer irreparable harm. Protecting public safety communications will be more difficult every day that the rules are in effect, and eliminating the hundreds of millions of problematic devices after they have begun operating will be nearly impossible.

What Happens Next?

This is the beginning of what could be a very long process. Ideally, the FCC would immediately hit Pause on the new rules and rethink the approach to protecting public safety like APCO requested. The FCC also has the discretion to just deny APCO’s petitions. In either case, we will remain engaged and pursue a solution that meets the needs of public safety.

Remaining Vigilant

While we’ve been dealing with this problem in 6 GHz, we’ve also been monitoring a separate proceeding to address the 4.9 GHz band, which is a much smaller pool of spectrum that is dedicated to public safety. In 2018, the FCC proposed rule changes that would make the 4.9 GHz band more useful to public safety agencies in many ways, including making the band more flexible for microwave links. This was something APCO supported, along with other aspects of the proposal. We’ve been waiting for years for the FCC to revise its rules to make the 4.9 GHz band more useful for public safety. Unfortunately, there have been rumors that the FCC is considering reallocating this band, which would be a blow to public safety. If the 6 GHz band becomes less reliable, it will be even more important for public safety to have dedicated 4.9 GHz spectrum to turn to.

Expect to hear more about APCO’s efforts to protect public safety spectrum in the near future.

About the TabletopX Blog

A “Tabletop Exercise,” often shortened as “TTX,” is a discussion-based exercise frequently used by emergency planners. Led by a facilitator using a planned scenario, TTX participants describe the actions they would take, and the processes and procedures they would follow. The facilitator notes the players’ contributions and ensures that exercise objectives are met. Following the exercise, the facilitator typically develops an after-action report and conducts a debrief discussion during which players and observers have an opportunity to share their thoughts, observations, and recommendations from the exercise without assigning fault or blame.

Many of the attributes of a TTX are the same we seek to promote in the discussion generated from our blog posts. The goal is to capitalize on the shared experiences and expertise of all the participants to identify best practices, as well as areas for improvement, and thus achieve as successful a response to an emergency as possible.

TabletopX blog posts are written by APCO’s Government Relations team and special guests.

Latest TabletopX Posts

TabletopX Archives

9-1-1: Nearing 50 Years of Dependable Emergency Assistance

By Martha Carter, President, APCO International

February 16, 2018 will mark 50 years since the first 9-1-1 call was placed in Haleyville, Alabama.  In the decades since, 9-1-1 has become one of the most well-known brands of all time.  Children are taught at the earliest possible age to call 9-1-1 in an emergency.  And the people who answer these calls embody one of the most special, life-saving professions in the world.  I know this from my own experience working nearly 30 years in 9-1-1.

People call 9-1-1 in their most desperate, dangerous, and scary moments. If you are fortunate, you never need to call.  But if you must, you are connected to a highly-trained, calm voice who provides life-saving instruction, and ensures that first responders arrive as quickly and safely as possible.

In fact, the 9-1-1 system is so second-nature and reliable that it’s easy to underappreciate. The 9-1-1 professionals who answer your calls, dispatch responders, and protect lives and property are not often seen on TV or in the movies.  They undergo extensive training, may work 12-hour shifts, and at any moment’s notice become immersed into an emergency, such as to coach a parent through life-saving infant CPR, or to talk a person through suicidal tendencies.  They also warn approaching responders of any dangers, coordinate incident response, and serve as a lifeline to injured police and firefighters.  They finish one call, often without closure or knowledge of outcomes, and must be ready to answer the next call.  Although it takes a very special kind of person to do this job, they are continuously exposed to a high level of stress that is hard to imagine.

The occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first 9-1-1 call is a great opportunity to raise awareness and celebrate the amazing work that 9-1-1 professionals from every corner of the U.S. perform every day.  They are true heroes – the first of the first responders – at times the only and best hope to save a life.

The 50th anniversary is an opportune time to confront the fact that 9-1-1 profoundly lags behind in technology.  It may come as a great surprise to many that as dependable and life-saving as the 9-1-1 system is, it is essentially based on the same technology of many decades ago.  The network itself relies upon technology that was long ago abandoned by just about every other commercial and critical infrastructure industry.  Today’s wireless communications options available to the public vastly exceed what’s available at 9-1-1 centers.  This is why, despite public expectations to the contrary, 9-1-1 can still only accept basic voice calls and in some cases, limited texts (always call if you can, text if you can’t).  Sending photos, videos, or other data to 9-1-1 is rarely possible, and we are nowhere close to such a capability in a uniform manner throughout the country.

This means that the 50th anniversary should also be a call to action.  We need to modernize our 9-1-1 systems, and prepare 9-1-1 professionals to meet the challenges of these new technologies.  The gulf between the current status of 9-1-1, and today’s state-of-the art commercially available communications, is so vast that it requires action by Congress to provide the funding needed to close this gap.

APCO has been a leader in seeking to raise awareness of the protective roles 9-1-1 professionals play, and secure federal funding to modernize the 9-1-1 system.

But what it all comes down to is the professional workforce that is there to help every day, every hour, every holiday, and throughout any disaster that may impact them and their families as well. As we celebrate this milestone, let’s be sure to thank those “behind the headsets” for their service.  APCO plans a number of initiatives, so stay tuned for more announcements.

About the TabletopX Blog

A “Tabletop Exercise,” often shortened as “TTX,” is a discussion-based exercise frequently used by emergency planners. Led by a facilitator using a planned scenario, TTX participants describe the actions they would take, and the processes and procedures they would follow. The facilitator notes the players’ contributions and ensures that exercise objectives are met. Following the exercise, the facilitator typically develops an after-action report and conducts a debrief discussion during which players and observers have an opportunity to share their thoughts, observations, and recommendations from the exercise without assigning fault or blame.

Many of the attributes of a TTX are the same we seek to promote in the discussion generated from our blog posts. The goal is to capitalize on the shared experiences and expertise of all the participants to identify best practices, as well as areas for improvement, and thus achieve as successful a response to an emergency as possible.

TabletopX blog posts are written by APCO’s Government Relations team and special guests.

Latest TabletopX Posts

TabletopX Archives

Achieving the True Promise of Next Generation 9-1-1

9-1-1 is part of America’s critical infrastructure, but it profoundly lags behind in technology. Public safety communications professionals across the country deserve to have the best tools available to protect and save lives.  Next Generation 9-1-1 promises to deliver many benefits, including putting 9-1-1 on par with technology used in the commercial sector, which for today means seamlessly exchanging texts, photos, videos, multimedia, and other data.  What will it take to finally make good on this promise and achieve fully deployed NG 9-1-1 service throughout the United States?

We Need to Work from a Comprehensive Definition of NG 9-1-1

Some states and localities are making progress towards NG 9-1-1 by replacing legacy networks with IP-based connectivity, referred to as ESInets or Emergency Services IP Networks. To be fully deployed, NG 9-1-1 has to mean an end-to-end, all-IP network that includes not only the connectivity afforded by ESInets but also the equipment and services needed to enable every 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) to process new forms of data.  To illustrate, this means when a member of the public can send a multimedia message such as a photo or video to a PSAP that in turn is capable of receiving, analyzing, and forwarding this information to a field responder to render an emergency response.  This is not yet possible anywhere in the country.

Defining NG 9-1-1 in this comprehensive manner will best ensure that all stakeholders work in unison to effectively implement NG 9-1-1 across the United States. This includes innovators, technology companies, federal, state and local government officials, and 9-1-1 professionals.  It also helps better identify the need and urgency to modernize 9-1-1 particularly for elected officials, and mitigate confusion on the part of the general public, whose expectations about the capabilities of 9-1-1 are increasingly far from reality.

APCO has suggested a comprehensive definition to the FCC for use in its annual reports on 9-1-1 fee diversion, and the definition will be refined for APCO’s upcoming report on Broadband Implications for the PSAP (to be released at our annual conference this August).

The True Promise of NG 9-1-1: Interoperability and Innovation

The real opportunity for NG 9-1-1 goes beyond end-to-end connectivity for advanced, multimedia communications. Seamless interoperability will improve emergency response operations and expand the market so that public safety benefits from the competition and innovation enjoyed in the commercial sector.  “Seamless interoperability” means avoiding expensive integrations or specialized interfaces for every NG 9-1-1 use case:

  1. PSAP-to-PSAP: seamless hand-off of calls such as for transfers, overloads, or mutual aid.
  2. ESInet-to-ESInet: seamless exchange of data between connecting networks, including across state boundaries, to facilitate mutual aid, disaster recovery, or data sharing.
  3. ESInet-to-origination networks: naturally, we need a seamless way for the public and other sources of data (including smart city, Internet of Things, and intelligent highway networks) to flow into NG 9-1-1 networks.
  4. NG 9-1-1-to-FirstNet: similarly, one network cannot fully function without the other, and a seamless interface to exchange data between these two vitally important public safety networks is a must.

While it’d be natural to expect seamless interoperability given the value to public safety’s mission, we are concerned that NG 9-1-1 deployments are on course to lack interoperability, at least without costly after-the-fact integrations. Failing to realize the true promise of NG 9-1-1 would be a great disservice to 9-1-1 professionals and the communities they serve.

In the commercial sector, we take interoperability for granted. For example, consumers can freely exchange multimedia content and data with each other, regardless of device, manufacturer, operating system, software, service provider, etc.  This is because the consumer marketplace uses commercial standards – such as those created by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) (including IP-Multimedia Subsystem, IMS), the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) – and because the market generally demands it.  NG 9-1-1 can and must benefit from these same commercial standards and expectations.

In addition to commercial standards, there are a number of complementary efforts underway by the public safety community and industry to improve interoperability and flexibility for NG 9-1-1. For example, earlier this year APCO and NENA received final approval from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for an American National Standard that identifies standard specifications for the exchange of NG 9-1-1 emergency data between disparate manufacturers’ systems (Computer Aided Dispatch, Record Management Systems, etc.) located within one or more public safety agencies.  Standards are also in progress to address NG 9-1-1 network architecture.  ATIS, the ANSI-accredited standards development organization partnered with 3GPP, has produced a standard for implementation of an IMS-based NG 9-1-1 service architecture.  Also, NENA plans to make the next version of its “i3” architectural vision for NG 9-1-1 an ANSI standard.

Standards are critical, but we also need a mechanism to ensure that NG 9-1-1 systems achieve interoperability for the use cases above, both when they’re deployed and on an ongoing basis. This may require action by Congress, as explained below.  In the meantime, for those states and jurisdictions that have deployed, or are seeking to deploy, ESInets or other NG 9-1-1 elements, we recommend you ask the following questions of your existing or prospective vendors:

  • Can you guarantee that our ESInet and other IP-based equipment will be seamlessly interoperable with other ESInets and equipment, including across state boundaries?
  • Can you guarantee that our ESInet will be seamlessly interoperable with origination networks? With FirstNet?
  • If a solution complies with a particular standard, how have you ensured that your implementation of the standard aligns with others in the industry to achieve interoperability?
  • Will you guarantee your solution to be interoperable without additional upgrades and new costs to the PSAP?

What We Can Learn and Apply from the FirstNet Legislation

With the right vision in mind for NG 9-1-1, a look at the problems that the FirstNet legislation aimed to solve for first responder communications can help set the path for NG 9-1-1.

Many of the challenges facing 9-1-1 are similar to those encountered with public safety land mobile radio communications:

  • Networks, services, and equipment are costly, siloed, and proprietary.
  • The vendor community is specialized and small.
  • 9-1-1 authorities have little bargaining power and few options.
  • Interoperability is difficult and expensive to achieve, especially after-the-fact. (As explained above, this is becoming a growing concern for pre-NG 9-1-1 deployments.)
  • Innovation is limited and disconnected from advances in the consumer marketplace.
  • Upgrades are disruptive.
  • Consumer/user expectations are far removed from reality.

In addressing the communications needs of first responders, Congress sought to leverage the opportunities afforded by the innovation, experience, expertise, infrastructure, and breadth of the commercial marketplace. In particular, by defining and requiring use of “commercial standards” in all network components, the FirstNet legislation is achieving the following for the nationwide public safety broadband network:

  • Substantially expanded range of companies producing innovative solutions;
  • Seamless interoperability and data sharing without the need for additional interfaces or costly integration; and
  • Significant economies of scale.

We must accomplish the same outcomes for NG 9-1-1.

Where Do We Go from Here?

When Next Generation 9-1-1 and FirstNet are fully deployed throughout the country, the PSAP’s role as the nerve center of a broader emergency response ecosystem will be even more critical than it is today: receiving data and multimedia content from the public and exchanging broadband-rich content with field responders via a dedicated wireless public safety broadband network. Fortunately, there have been some promising developments for NG 9-1-1 of late.

Looking at NG 9-1-1 and FirstNet as the two main pillars of the nation’s future emergency response capabilities, we start to see a path forward. The 9-1-1 community may not have the bargaining power, on its own, to match the economies of scale and innovation prevalent in the commercial marketplace and ensure needed interoperability for NG 9-1-1.  Accordingly, and similar to how the FirstNet legislation achieved these goals for first responder communications, the opportunity exists for Congress to provide strong incentives for NG 9-1-1 implementation to use commercial standards and achieve full interoperability.  For example, Congress can help ensure use of commercial standards and ongoing interoperability as conditions of federal grants, through certifications by grant recipients, and with oversight by the 9-1-1 Office.

Thus, full NG 9-1-1 deployment requires a significant federal grant program for a one-time capital expenditure to upgrade 9-1-1 networks, equipment, and PSAPs AND to create the mechanism needed to ensure interoperability and position PSAPs to stay on par with commercial technology.

In February, Senators Bill Nelson (FL) and Amy Klobuchar (MN) released a discussion draft of federal legislation that would advance NG 9-1-1.  This draft bill addresses critical needs for the 9-1-1 community, and aligns with priorities APCO has long advocated for accomplishing a full transition to NG 9-1-1.  For the reasons discussed above, APCO is especially supportive of provisions recognizing the need for standards and resources to support PSAPs while appropriately reserving governance and control to states and localities.  The Communications and Technology Subcommittee in the House of Representatives also recently held an informative hearing entitled “Realizing Nationwide Next Generation 9-1-1,” during which several Representatives expressed interest in connectivity between PSAPs and interoperability with broader networks such as the Internet of Things.

These expressions of interest in NG 9-1-1 in both the Senate and House are a welcome sign. A modernized 9-1-1 system is a national public safety and homeland security priority, and APCO looks forward to continued work on the draft bill and other initiatives with members of Congress.

All In: Betting Against Opt-Out

With FirstNet’s historic announcement of its selection of AT&T as its partner, we are about to achieve the promise of a state-of-the-art, nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network.  Each state will soon be presented with the opportunity of FirstNet’s proposed network build – one that will forever transform and improve emergency response.  States would receive this at no cost and with no need to assume financial, technical, cybersecurity, public safety, or operational risks.  Unless governors want those costs and risks.

If a governor seeks to “opt out,” pursuing construction of the state’s portion of the network through an arduous process that Congress strongly discouraged, states face significant costs and risks.  APCO has said publicly that “opt-out is a false choice,” and here I offer a detailed explanation of why.

Let’s First Review History

In 2012, after years of a united public safety community, led by APCO and the Public Safety Alliance, advocating for the tools to improve communications for first responders, Congress created FirstNet.  Along with needed spectrum and funding, the public safety community supported the notion of a single nationwide governance body to implement the network.  Public safety leaders, and eventually Congress, agreed that to provide advanced communications capabilities, nationwide interoperability, rural coverage, cybersecurity, and national-level economies of scale, the way public safety communications networks are built had to change significantly.  Thus, FirstNet emerged, and so far it has proven quite effective.

As part of a political compromise, the law carved out a mechanism for states to “opt-out” of FirstNet’s plan and build their own portion of the radio access network, meaning the infrastructure that connects individual devices to FirstNet’s core network.  The rationale for this was partly philosophical, that states should have additional options, and some thought that this would provide FirstNet with an additional incentive to develop the most effective network design to meet public safety’s requirements.  In creating the opt-out provision, Congress took steps to strongly discourage states from building their own RANs.

For states attempting to opt-out, Congress imposed aggressive, unforgiving timeframes.  It established three separate approval stages – the FCC, NTIA, and FirstNet – each with demanding requirements.  Congress also made clear that there is no financial benefit to states of opting out.  To the extent that revenue can be gained from the excess spectrum capacity, any and all such revenue must be reinvested back into the network.

Let me pose a few rhetorical questions.  Has a promise of profit for opt-out states been accompanied by an explanation of how to get around the law’s requirement that any revenue be reinvested into the network?  Can a company offer better coverage or service than FirstNet, with its statutory mandate to cover rural areas, nationwide economies of scale, billions in federal funding, and the mandate to do what’s best for public safety?

I haven’t heard satisfactory answers to either of these questions.  FirstNet conducted a fair and competitive RFP process.  Some companies didn’t participate at all, and some were unsuccessful.  States should be skeptical of opt-out, to say the least.

Why Opting Out is a False Choice

I understand that when faced with deciding whether to accept FirstNet’s proposed RAN plan or attempt to opt-out, states want that decision to be based on a well-informed comparison of the options.  But I don’t see any scenario in which pursuing an alternative RAN build benefits a state’s citizens or its first responders.

FirstNet Has Inherent Advantages, Unmatchable by Individual States.

Due to its nationwide scope, partnership with AT&T, and statutory obligations, FirstNet will be able to achieve and sustain national-level economies of scale and purchasing power, rural coverage, greater spectrum capacity, and wireless broadband network expertise that are beyond the reach of any state acting alone.  FirstNet has already consulted extensively with state and local agencies.  This means that FirstNet knows what the priorities for each state (and its local components) are, as does AT&T.

Not only is FirstNet going to be based upon the most advanced wireless broadband communications technology available (including through the evolution to 5G technology and beyond), it will also meet public safety-specific requirements.  FirstNet is designed for this purpose, and has a proven partner in AT&T.  In contrast, a state would have to acquire and fund the workforce needed to manage a highly advanced, mission critical public safety network (including vendor oversight, marketing, customer care, disaster recovery, etc.), and find a qualified partner.  This would require a long-term commitment[1] of the state and its vendor to remain current with an evolving and increasingly complex cybersecurity threat landscape and to keep up with the rapid pace of innovation in order to remain interoperable with FirstNet.

FirstNet is also designed to maximize its public-private partnership with AT&T, and can assess fees upon its subscribers, its partner, and opt-out states.  A governor electing to reject FirstNet’s RAN build would face uncertain funding from NTIA for its own network build, pay fees to FirstNet to access FirstNet’s core network, pay its vendor, charge its own user fees (which must be competitively priced), and ensure that it has a sustainable financial model.

States also cannot guarantee sustainability.  State governors, policies, politics, funds, and priorities constantly change.  In 2018 alone, gubernatorial elections will be held in 36 states and three territories.  Opting out is a substantial commitment, yet no state can guarantee to its first responders and citizens that it will be able to remain sufficiently and continuously committed to the state RAN.  There is no rescue plan in the law for failed opt-out RANs.  If something goes wrong, the entire state could lose service indefinitely, leaving first responders without the service they will increasingly come to depend on.

Passing the opt-out review process is nearly impossible.

By congressional design, states seeking to opt out must hurdle three separate high bars in short order.  The law’s stringent provisions speak for themselves.

It’s no longer a question of control.

You don’t need to construct your own RAN to ensure you have the level of local control public safety expects.  LTE technology is completely different than land mobile radio networks, and offers numerous features that permit local customization.

States can’t profit from opting out.

The law is clear, despite any promises made by misguided vendors:

“Any revenue gained by the State… shall be used only for constructing, maintaining, operating, or improving the radio access network of the State.”[2]

Congress also recognized the need for FirstNet to charge states that opt-out a fee to access the core network, which Congress reserved exclusively to FirstNet to implement:

“If a State chooses to build its own radio access network, the State shall pay any user fees associated with State use of elements of the core network.”[3]

The amount of this fee will not be known at the time a decision to pursue opt-out is required.

Grant funding from NTIA for constructing opt-out RANs (in lieu of what FirstNet would spend to implement its proposal) has not been determined, and there is no guarantee of what amount opt-out states may receive.

Yet the ink was barely dry on the FirstNet legislation when vendors and consultants began preying on states to convince them to opt-out, often with false promises of revenue from monetizing the spectrum dedicated to public safety.  These businesses see more profit in keeping public safety divided than helping to achieve the goals of the FirstNet legislation.

Certain vendors have been quite public about trying to convince states to opt-out and hire them.  One in particular is promoting its dynamic spectrum exchange technology, which has not yet been proven in practice, let alone in a public safety environment.  A cardinal rule of public safety communications is that public safety shouldn’t be a proving ground for a proprietary, untested technology.

Further, the spectrum exchange model may bring a number of substantial financial risks to governors.  A recent economic analysis by NERA Economic Consulting explains that “the deployment of a state-owned RAN is costly,” consisting of initial capital investment, operating expenses, and upgrading or incremental capital expense.[4]  Among states that have issued RFPs to explore opt-out, its author, Christian Dippon, estimates that New Hampshire, Alabama, and Arizona can expect to pay as much as $48 million, $269 million, and $524 million, respectively.[5]

Against this backdrop, Dippon states that “a closer examination of the potential profit that the states could earn from opting out from the FirstNet program demonstrates that demand will likely be weak, leading to low revenue expectations and thus negative profits.”[6]  As Dippon explains, carriers tend to account for capacity needs in their network designs, and it is thus “not realistic that a mobile wireless service provider would expend such large amounts on solutions that are not permanent.”[7]  As a result, “states will incur substantial deficits, which they will only be able to cover by an increase in taxes.”[8]

Dippon casts further doubt on the economics of dynamic spectrum access, such as the complexities of formulating the roaming agreements that both public safety and commercial users would require (“the inability to place a call outside the opt-out state would make the opt-out network one of very low value to its subscribers”), the experimental nature of such a system (“no country has a working spectrum-exchange system”), and the strength of existing secondary markets for spectrum (“strong and thriving”).[9]  I would recommend any state considering opt-out to review this entire report as part of its overall due diligence efforts.

How Opting Out Will Harm Public Safety

Fragmented networks will add unnecessary costs and complexity to FirstNet.

Any opt-out state RAN adds complexity, operational risks, and integration costs to FirstNet and the remainder of the country.  At the same time, first responders are at a disadvantage as they await the conclusion of the opt-out process, and then the state’s network build.

Fragmented networks will imperil nationwide interoperability.

The most important goal of FirstNet is to create and preserve a nationwide level of interoperability for public safety broadband communications.  Historically, the state and local network build model has failed the country in this regard.  All it takes is for one state RAN to fail, and there goes interoperability within that state, with adjoining states, and nationwide.

Fragmented networks will introduce unnecessary cybersecurity risks.

Public safety broadband networks will be an attractive target for cyber attacks.  Congress knew this and incorporated a number of requirements of FirstNet to build in protections against cyber attacks.  Even one separate opt-out RAN introduces an external vulnerability that can impact the entire network.

The Good News

Thanks to a dedicated and talented Board and staff, FirstNet has accomplished its major statutory responsibilities to date: extensive consultation with states, localities, and public safety professionals across the country, and a well-executed procurement process that achieved what Congress had in mind for this public-private partnership – an expert wireless industry partner in AT&T, that, as Congress intended, permits FirstNet to leverage the experience and infrastructure of a commercial wireless service provider.

Indeed, in just the short amount of time since the Department of Commerce and FirstNet announced their partnership with AT&T, AT&T has shown how much value they can contribute to the public safety community.  AT&T will be making available quality of service, priority, and preemption services to states once a governor opts-in, without the need to wait on the build-out of Band 14, FirstNet’s dedicated spectrum.  In other words, as soon as governors opt in, the first responders in their states can benefit from priority access over AT&T’s existing network.

Our nation’s first responders deserve the best, and we owe it to them to achieve the vision of FirstNet. The entire country needs to band together to realize the efficiency, sustainability, interoperability, reliability, and security made possible only by a single nationwide network.  This is a chance to get things right for public safety, and I’m all in.

 

[1] The agreement between FirstNet and AT&T is for 25 years.

[2] 47 USC § 1442(g)(2).

[3] 47 USC § 1442(f).

[4] FirstNet: An Economic Analysis of Opting In vs. Opting Out, By Christian Dippon, PhD, NERA Economic Consulting (March 2017) at page 7, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2939764.  This report responds to a paper prepared for Rivada Networks by Peter Cramton and Linda Doyle.

[5] Id.

[6] Id.

[7] Id. at 8.

[8] Id.

[9] Id. at 10-21.

FirstNet Works to Foster Innovation in Public Safety Apps

By Jeff Posner, FirstNet Senior Applications Architect

If you know FirstNet, then you know we are focused on putting broadband technology into the hands of public safety personnel nationwide. What you may not know is that FirstNet also is leading the way on a host of public safety-focused technologies, not the least of which is in bringing to market the best possible software applications for public safety to use in emergencies and day to day scenarios.

“The excitement surrounding FirstNet not only is in its broadband capabilities, which will be a game-changer, but also in the competition for public safety apps that we expect it to spark,” FirstNet Chief Technology Officer Jeff Bratcher said. “If FirstNet can help foster that kind of technical innovation, we will open up a new world in which first responders are more prepared, safer, and in better position to serve the public, from the apps they will be able to access.”

When speaking about the technology FirstNet will enable at the APCO Emerging Technology Forum in Seattle recently, Jeff Johnson, Vice Chairman of the FirstNet Board said, “That device will change every aspect of life and work for public safety.”

Preceding the Technology Forum, APCO International hosted its third technology workshop; this session’s topic was App Interoperability. The APCO workshop brought together members of FirstNet’s applications team, based in Boulder, Colorado, with representatives from public safety, government agencies, telecommunications and app designers.

In this workshop, participants called for the creation of a tool for developers to use for testing their apps for interoperability and cybersecurity on FirstNet’s network. Open, transparent, and objectives based self-test tools are critical to innovating quickly within the applications ecosystem for several reasons. Transparent tools enhance confidence in the reliability, stability, and security of applications. Such tools enhance the productivity of application developers in validating their efforts prior to further, typically costlier, testing procedures. Finally, online tools are a very cost effective way for demonstrating the functionality of an underlying solution.

Efforts like APCO’s AppComm website and collaborations with FirstNet have helped to increasingly involve public safety in the dizzying pace of app development. Law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics and others have been quick to tell FirstNet the kind of apps that would vastly improve public safety.

Some of those include:

  • Distributing images of suspects, lost children, or evidence reliably and in real-time
  • Viewing 3D floorplans of structure fires with all critical infrastructure such as firehose connections, real-time images of hot-spots, locations of panic alarms including all three dimensions of location
  • Real-time 12-lead ECG under mission critical, congested conditions
  • Access to a virtually unlimited collection of critical data from the field whether it be health information, law enforcement records, or licensing data

There is virtually no limit to the variety of applications and information that can be built once a mission critical, broadband data network is constructed to demanding needs of public safety. Even now, participants in FirstNet’s Early Builder program have deployed and are actively using mobile broadband solutions including situational awareness, collaboration, and push-to-talk (PTT) to support and enhance their operational posture.

Captain Chris Lombard, a Seattle firefighter, is among many who are excited about the prospects FirstNet holds. “We can’t even begin to imagine the opportunities that are going to be available for public safety. Who would have thought, even five years ago, that we would have been able to exchange the types of information or the amount of information that we are able to exchange today?

“What excites me is that there is some firefighter, EMT, patrol officer out there that right now has an idea and they’re just looking for the mechanism to be able to get that idea in motion,” Lombard added. “Whether it is passing or sharing information, whether it’s finding out what would make their jobs easier, better, orhelpful to other people. I think those are the things that excite me about the potential or the opportunities that FirstNet is going to enable for us.”

FirstNet continues to search for new and innovative ways to exploit the intersection of public safety needs, mobile broadband, and the revolutionary change in software development created by mobile devices.  By opening the doors to more developers, providing them with the tools and support commonly afforded open development environments, and promoting our vision of a fully integrated development ecosystem, public safety personnel will have access to more focused apps and more timely data than ever before possible.

Partnering to Improve Public Safety Apps

This is a companion post to the AT&T Developer Program blog.

Mark Reddish, Senior Counsel and Manager of Government Relations

For most people, a dead battery on our smartphone or slow download is just an inconvenience.  But imagine the impact of a dead battery to public safety professionals or the citizens they’re trying to serve during an emergency.  What about congested wireless data networks when seconds count?  APCO recognized that apps hold great potential for public safety and has been working to address these issues and ensure apps are as effective as possible.

For a start, APCO created the Application Community (www.AppComm.org) to facilitate collaboration and serve as the single trusted site for public safety apps.  As developers sought to have their apps included on AppComm, the need for evaluation criteria became evident.  Thus, APCO developed the Key Attributes of Effective Apps for Public Safety and Emergency Response to provide public safety professionals, app developers, and the general public with an outline of important considerations for apps that include public safety or emergency response features.

 

The Key Attributes include issues such as security, privacy, and data and battery efficiency.  APCO invited partnerships with a variety of stakeholders to address these items, which resulted in a collaboration with CTIA – the Wireless Association® – and AT&T to examine how apps manage data and battery usage.

The Application Resource Optimizer (ARO)

Understanding the importance of mobile app efficiency for police, fire, EMS, and other public safety officials, CTIA and AT&T offered to support APCO’s efforts to improve apps.  AT&T’s ARO is a diagnostic tool for optimizing mobile app performance.  It’s free for developers and can be used to improve app battery life, data usage, and responsiveness by pinpointing the source of wasteful data & power drains.  ARO analyzes “traces,” sample app activity, for 24 Mobile Best Practices to expose hidden problems in the code and provide clear recommendations on how to fix them.

APCO invited a few developers to participate in an app efficiency testing program using ARO with support from CTIA and AT&T’s experts.  Here are two examples of how apps were improved by these partnerships:

PulsePoint

PulsePoint is literally a life-saving app, created by a non-profit foundation.  When someone in a public place needs CPR, the app “dispatches” nearby trained users and shows them the location of the closest AED.  These citizen and off-duty responders then initiate CPR and in some cases deliver a rhythm-restoring shock before first responders arrive, dramatically increasing the victim’s chance of survival.  When lives are at stake seconds truly matter.  Due to the always-on nature of PulsePoint, it’s critical that the app operates as efficiently as possible.

Using ARO to evaluate PulsePoint revealed that while the app was well conceived and engineered there were opportunities for improvement.  After ARO identified optimization strategies, the app gained meaningful network efficiencies.

 

STING

STING is a situational awareness system with mobile apps that allow field units and commanders to share real-time location information, pictures, notes, and mission updates.  The majority of their users are law enforcement teams who perform a variety of dynamic operations (SWAT, Narcotics, Mobile Field Force, etc.), but they recently released fire and EMS versions of STING that are also in use today.

Data and battery efficiency are especially critical to STING for two reasons.  First, whereas consumers have access to power throughout most of the day, first responders in the field have to be able to operate for long periods without recharging a device.  The challenge is heightened because frequent GPS and compass orientation updates – important tools for STING – can drain the battery quickly.  Second, for security reasons, data is not permanently stored on the device so accessing photos and notes from the system requires a data connection for download and upload of information.  Together, these factors make STING’s data connections more important, which requires more intensive management of battery and data usage by the app.

ARO’s evaluation helped the developers ensure STING manages the GPS location and orientation acquisition appropriately while creating data connections and throughput as efficiently as possible.  STING is constantly evolving as features are added, new smart devices are introduced, and wireless networks improve; hence, ARO allows STING’s developers to continually evaluate new algorithms and architectures to optimize the system.  It’s now a tool they use regularly to keep the app running at optimal performance.

 

APCO has continued working with developers, public safety professionals, and industry experts to identify issues and work toward solutions.  (Learn more here.)

In addition to collaboration with developers and industry experts, input from public safety professionals is critical to app quality.  From identifying unmet needs to refining the user interface, anyone with experience in public safety communications, police, fire, and EMS has an important perspective to contribute.  When it comes to emergency response, there’s no substitute for first-hand experience.

Whatever your area of expertise, consider joining APCO’s efforts to improve apps for public safety and emergency response.  We’re always looking for public safety professionals who are willing to share their expertise and industry partners who can help us evaluate apps for security, efficiency, and other aspects of design.

Contact: [email protected]

Equipping Volunteer Responders with Broadband Technologies

This blog is a repost from FirstNet’s website.

By Vicki Lee, FirstNet Association Manager

FirstNet has been charged by Congress to build, operate, and maintain the first high-speed, nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety. Knowing those that we serve at FirstNet is all too important.

Throughout FirstNet’s consultations with the states and territories, we have been learning about the complexity and incredible commitment of our nation’s public safety community. The input from these meetings, the public safety data that states provide, discussions and meetings with the FirstNet Public Safety Advisory Committee, and firsthand experiences like fire academy training are shaping our vision of the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN). We need to know how first responders prepare for and respond to emergencies of all sizes, as well as the communications capabilities they need to execute their mission.

As a former volunteer firefighter and EMT, I understand firsthand that volunteer first responders play an important role in keeping our communities safe, particularly in rural areas. FirstNet team members recently had the opportunity to join the Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad (WVRS) in Maryland to get a firsthand look at how wireless broadband is already improving emergency response.

When you think of volunteer responders, you may imagine members of the community carrying a pager and meeting up at the station before responding to an emergency. That’s not the case in Wheaton; the department’s too busy. In 2014, the station responded to more than 9,000 incidents. That’s spread across three EMS units and a heavy rescue squad. WVRS is fully integrated with the Montgomery County (MD) Fire and Rescue Service. During the day, Monday through Friday, staffing is provided by county personnel. Nights and weekends, WVRS is staffed 100% by volunteers, many of whom ride after working a full day at their full-time jobs.

WVRS has fully embraced technology. In addition to using mobile data terminals (MDTs) to receive dispatches and update the unit status, many of the responders are using personal devices to map directions to the scene, look up a patient’s medications to get a medical history, and check the status of local hospitals.

Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad responded to more than 9,000 incidents in 2014.

 

In the FirstNet blog, we described how first responders are coming up with some innovative solutions to improve operations, and we saw more of this in Wheaton. Notably, a deputy chief at WVRS – whose day job is in IT – set up a dispatch feed that authenticated users can access via smartphone to quickly map directions to the scene, and the station’s TVs are triggered to display the nature and location of an incident whenever one of their units is dispatched.

Wheaton responders were intrigued by the idea of a NPSBN and the possibility of advanced capabilities like helmets with pull down screens and mission critical data, but in the meantime, they’re looking for improvements to the tools they already have. Between the county’s computer aided dispatch (CAD) system and less centralized resources like incident pre-plans and notes maintained by individual stations, there is a lot of useful information being underused. Of course, this is where mobile apps can really help, and in some cases they already are. For example, it’s common to encounter non-English speaking patients in Wheaton, and a few members were recently given access to a beta version of an EMS translation app.

The technology FirstNet brings to public safety will be a game-changer, but ultimately, it’s the commitment of our nation’s public safety professionals that keeps our communities safe. The willingness to serve on a voluntary basis epitomizes this commitment. “I am honored to be a part of this unit and the important mission we have every day to keep [this county] safe,” said Chat Halambe, a volunteer firefighter who is also a full-time student. At FirstNet, we’re honored to do our part, too, and we strive to ensure that first responders have the best tools available to protect our communities.

Vicki Lee is FirstNet’s Association Manager and Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) liaison. She previously worked at the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) for 17 years, where she served as a project manager on programs which focused on collaborative work with other national fire and emergency service organizations such as the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Fire Protection Association, and the Congressional Fire Services Institute. Vicki led several projects that brought together representatives from these organizations and others to develop reports, training programs, and other work products for the fire and emergency services.

Getting Ever Closer to Solving Wireless 911 Location Accuracy

Yesterday, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wrote a blog announcing that he has circulated an order that, per the tentative agenda also announced yesterday, would “ensure that accurate caller location information is automatically provided to public safety officials for all wireless calls to 911, including for indoor calls, to meet consumer and public safety needs and expectations, and to take advantage of new technological developments.”

The Chairman’s action, and the extensive work of the Public Safety Bureau leading up to this order, are commendable.  This all began with a well-considered set of proposals by the Commission early last year, along with an invitation to public safety, industry, and other stakeholders to develop alternative proposals.  We at APCO are very proud that we answered this call, with the Roadmap we developed with our partners at NENA and the four largest wireless carriers that, as the Chairman eloquently described, is “a novel approach that has the potential to close the readiness gap through use of known locations of indoor wireless nodes” and “will ultimately result in capabilities that will evolve with the continued change anticipated in the number of ways consumers might call for help in the future.”

Central to the Roadmap, and APCO’s strong belief that it represents the best and most effective path towards solving the indoor location problem, is its emphasis on achieving a “dispatchable location.”  Dispatchable location – defined in the Roadmap to mean the “civic address of the calling party plus additional information such as floor, suite, apartment or similar information that may be needed to adequately identify the location of the calling party” – represents public safety’s gold standard of indoor location accuracy and will provide the equivalent of a landline telephone call.

Public safety has waited long enough.  The time for all stakeholders to join APCO and its Roadmap partners to aggressively pursue and implement nothing short of a dispatchable location solution is right now.  It is time to break public safety out of the cycle of substandard proprietary solutions trailing technological advancements enjoyed in the consumer marketplace.  It is time to depart from position estimates that are increasingly successful outdoors but inside buildings can leave responders searching for those who need help.  People in need of emergency assistance, 911 call takers, 911 dispatchers, and first responders need to know the “door to kick down” plain and simple.

Chairman Wheeler is helping to set us on this path.  We will look forward to reviewing his proposals.  Any ideas that would make the Roadmap even more effective, including reaching our gold standard of dispatchable location, will be most welcome.

About the TabletopX Blog

A “Tabletop Exercise,” often shortened as “TTX,” is a discussion-based exercise frequently used by emergency planners. Led by a facilitator using a planned scenario, TTX participants describe the actions they would take, and the processes and procedures they would follow. The facilitator notes the players’ contributions and ensures that exercise objectives are met. Following the exercise, the facilitator typically develops an after-action report and conducts a debrief discussion during which players and observers have an opportunity to share their thoughts, observations, and recommendations from the exercise without assigning fault or blame.

Many of the attributes of a TTX are the same we seek to promote in the discussion generated from our blog posts. The goal is to capitalize on the shared experiences and expertise of all the participants to identify best practices, as well as areas for improvement, and thus achieve as successful a response to an emergency as possible.

TabletopX blog posts are written by APCO’s Government Relations team and special guests.

Latest TabletopX Posts

TabletopX Archives

Mutual Aid: App Developers and Public Safety Experts Collaborating

By Mark Reddish

It’s no surprise that public safety apps are better when developed with input from public safety experts.  What’s surprising, or at least exciting, is that professionals from two different worlds can work so well together when they’re practically speaking different languages.  Great things happen when developers and public safety professionals collaborate and help each other understand terms like stacks, Git, the cloud, PSAP, AED, trauma-code, and – fittingly – mutual aid.

October 17-18, I participated in a public safety app hackathon hosted by AT&T at its Foundry in Atlanta, Georgia.  Developers had 24 hours to build apps from scratch that would improve public safety and emergency response.  APCO assisted by inviting public safety professionals to serve as mentors and by providing “hackathon guidance” that described basic considerations for public safety operations, use case examples, and suggestions to inspire the developers.

“It’s just amazing to see what can happen when you get public safety experts and computer experts together…”

The hackathon began with presentations from the event’s sponsors, who described the development tools they were providing, and experienced public safety professionals, who described the important role new technologies can play in supporting public safety communications and emergency response. When I had a chance to address the developers, I encouraged them to take advantage of the law enforcement, EMS, fire, and 9-1-1 professionals in attendance and emphasized the value of designing apps based on advice from the experts.  The mentors included former APCO President Dick Mirgon, Dia Gainor, Executive Director of the National Association of State EMS Officials, Ray Lehr, Maryland’s Interoperability Director and FirstNet Point of Contact (who has experience guiding app developers, as this FirstNet blog describes), and APCO members from the Georgia Chapter: Executive Council member Angie Bowen and dispatcher Cory Hayes.

As with prior hackathons, developers had the opportunity to address the audience and describe their programming skills and ideas in order to seek teammates.  The string of developers was broken, however, when Matt Hinds-Aldrich from Atlanta Fire Rescue stood up and said, “I don’t know how to program, but I know public safety.  And I have an idea.”  Within 24 hours, Matt had joined with two developers – Haider Khan and Kevin Coleman – who turned the idea into a tool that won the award for Best Public Safety App.

The app, “Safety Net,” is a mobile and web-based interface for tracking personnel in real time.  Employing tools like WebRTC, it enables users to call one another by tapping dots on the map that represent other users and can also be used to log location-related events like fire prevention visits.  Dispatcher Cory Hayes presented the award for Best Public Safety App to this team.  “It’s just amazing to see what can happen when you get public safety experts and computer experts together in the same room for 24 hours or less,” he said.  “The computer experts may not know anything about public safety, and the public safety experts may not know anything about computers, but at the end of the Hackathon, we all learned something from each other and these apps were created to help our responders and citizens.”

Dispatcher Cory Hayes with the Safety Net team.

Bringing public safety professionals and developers together has been our mission since launching AppComm.  Not only is advice from the public safety experts valuable to developers, but as Angie Bowen said, “APCO’s work with apps is very important to its leadership role in public safety communications.”  APCO has participated in hackathons, created resources like the Key Attributes of Effective Apps for Public Safety and Emergency Response, and held several app-related sessions at its events, including an app security workshop with NIST and FirstNet.  We’ve been calling on public safety professionals to join APCO’s efforts to ensure public safety apps are as effective as possible.  And it’s great to see APCO members answering the call.

Aside from being a fun competition and great opportunity for developers and public safety professionals to connect, this event represents broader progress toward creating the best tools possible for public safety and emergency response.  AT&T will hold another public safety app hackathon on December 12 in Silicon Valley.  If you’d like to contribute, you can register to attend or send your ideas to [email protected].

 APCO’s Angie Bowen and Cory Hayes look on as the developers prepare to hack away.