Multi-stakeholder Effort Included the Department of Commerce, FirstNet, Public Safety Practitioners, and Industry Experts

Orlando, FL – Today, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International hosted a Public Safety Mobile Application Security Requirements Workshop in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Public Safety Communications Research Program and the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). This first-of-its-kind event brought together public safety practitioners, app developers, industry experts, and government officials to identify initial security requirements for apps intended for public safety use.

During sessions facilitated by representatives from APCO and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), workshop participants addressed app security topics such as data protection and identity management. Breakout groups comprised of individuals with diverse professional backgrounds considered use cases to identify public safety needs, mobile app technology issues, and potential security requirements for public safety apps. Based upon today’s discussions, NIST will produce a White Paper capturing initial public safety security requirements for mobile apps and strategies for conformity assessment, including methods of determining if apps meet the requirements and for making this knowledge available to purchasers/users.

APCO President Gigi Smith, who participated as a practitioner with nearly three decades of experience in public safety communications, said, “I was pleased to contribute to today’s workshop, and I was proud to see APCO members working with app developers and industry experts to share their respective knowledge and experience for the benefit of the broader public safety community. This is an important step to improve the public safety app ecosystem that builds upon APCO’s Key Attributes of Effective Apps for Public Safety and Emergency Response, the success of AppComm, and our related standards development efforts. We look forward to continued collaboration with NIST, FirstNet, and other stakeholders to foster innovation in mobile apps driven by public safety’s needs.”

APCO International® (www.apcointl.org)
APCO International is the world’s oldest and largest organization of public safety communications professionals and supports the largest U.S. membership base of any public safety association. It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide – and the welfare of the general public as a whole – by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach.