The session began with Serena Reynolds, Associate Director, Emergency Communications Division, DHS, who provided an overview of the 2019 National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP), a comprehensive strategic plan for maintaining and improving emergency communications. The NECP is updated every five years by DHS, and incorporates feedback from stakeholders and the public. The NECP establishes national priorities for improving emergency communications such as enhancing effective governance, addressing interoperability challenges, and building resilient and secure emergency communications systems, and addresses technologies including NG9-1-1, LMR-LTE integration, data interoperability, broadband technologies, and cybersecurity. DHS plans to release an updated NECP in September.

John Merrill, Executive Director, First Responder and Detection Division, DHS S&T, then described examples of tools and technologies that are being developed or are available for first responders that are used to improve situational awareness, voice communications and secure information exchange. He also discussed ways that innovators can engage with DHS S&T, through the Silicon Valley Innovation Program, the Small Business Innovation Research Program, Long Range Broad Agency Announcements and the Prize Challenge Program.  Ruth Vogel, Project Manager, Applied Physics Lab, Johns Hopkins University, followed, describing the Next Generation First Responders Program, which addresses first responder technology challenges and integration demonstrations that have been taking place over the last year in order to assess technologies in first responder environments.

Finally, Ron Langhelm, Program Manager, Office of Mission & Capability Support, DHS S&T, presented on the DHS’s international partnerships that aim to promote coordination and information sharing.  As an example, DHS S&T implemented the Canada-US Resiliency Experiment, which was a cross-border initiative consisting of a series of experiments to test and evaluate technologies and processes that enable cross-border information sharing.

Covered by Nicole Zimbelman