Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Fact Sheet: RapidCom 9/30 and Interoperability Progress

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 02 Aug 2004 07:34:19 -0400

Fact Sheet: RapidCom 9/30 and Interoperability Progress

On July 22, 2004, President Bush formally announced RapidCom 9/30, a
program that will enable America&rsquo;s first responders in ten urban
areas to communicate with each other in the event of a large emergency
incident like a terrorist attack.  By September 30, 2004, a crisis
communications capability will be in place in these ten high-threat
urban areas to address the inability of emergency workers to
communicate, a long-standing problem which contributed to the tragedy of
September 11th.
Until now, cities have used their Homeland Security grant money to
purchase compatible equipment but there are other key factors that are
necessary to achieve interoperability.  RapidCom9/30 provides the
resources for these urban areas to integrate such additional factors
into an effective incident response capability.  In addition to
specifying equipment needs, RapidCom 9/30 engages public safety
officials to identify and incorporate each community&rsquo;s key factors
of frequency of use, standard operating procedures, regional governance,
and training and exercises &ndash; the crucial human factors in the
interoperability equation &ndash; into an interoperability solution.
President Bush and the Department of Homeland Security are committed to
both short-term and long-term solutions to this critical issue:

Improving Interoperability Now:

RapidCom 9/30 will ensure that ten high-threat urban areas have
incident-level, interoperable emergency communications capability by
September 30, 2004.  The areas include: New York, NY; Chicago, IL;
Washington, DC and the surrounding Capital Region; Los Angeles, CA; San
Francisco, CA; Philadelphia, PA; Houston, TX; Jersey City, NJ; Miami,
FL; and Boston, MA.

While full interoperability will remain a long-term priority, RapidCom
9/30 will strengthen incident communications interoperability in these
urban areas for an incident area approximately the size of the attacks
on the World Trade Center towers on September 11th and ensure that
incident commanders have the ability to adequately communicate with each
other and their respective command centers.  At the incident area, first
responders from various disciplines and regional jurisdictions will be
able to communicate using existing equipment that is made interoperable
by a patch-panel device, interconnecting various models of equipment
that would otherwise not be compatible.

Achieving interoperability will require more than just linked equipment,
and RapidCom 9/30 provides the ten urban areas the assistance they need
to make that equipment work, including: technical assistance in setting
up the technology; development of standard operating procedures that
will guide all public safety officials; training in the use of the
equipment; help in planning and conducting test exercises; and
assistance in establishing a regional governance structure that brings
all relevant agencies together cooperatively.

RapidCom 9/30 is the latest example of how the Department of Homeland
Security is working hand-in-hand with state and local governments and
public safety officials to make America safer.  The local knowledge and
active involvement of officials in these urban areas is critical to
achieve interoperability. RapidCom 9/30 is designed to fit the unique
needs of each urban area, and Homeland Security is providing guidance
and expertise to promote local leadership, planning, and collaboration.
The successes achieved in these cities will serve both as a foundation
for a replicable model of incident-level interoperability in other urban
areas, and for the long-term goal of full interoperability that first
responders and public safety officials will use on a daily basis.

Interoperability Progress Since 9/11:

In 2004, the Department of Homeland Security released the first national
Statement of Requirements for Wireless Public Safety Communications and
Interoperability, which constitutes the first national definition of
what interoperability must accomplish.  It will drive the development
and creation of interface standards that will satisfy public safety
practitioner needs, offer industry a resource for understanding user
needs in the development of new technologies, and serve as a guide in
defining research, development, test, and evaluation programs.  Within a
month of its release, over 5,000 copies of the Statement of Requirements
had been downloaded, and manufacturers have begun mapping the
capabilities of their equipment &ndash; especially new designs &ndash;
to these requirements.

Homeland Security has created the first-ever council to coordinate all
the interoperability efforts of federal agencies involved in every
element of communications at each level of government: those who build
and operate federal systems, those who manage grants and technical
assistance programs for state and local activities, and those who
regulate the airwaves.

This year Homeland Security has worked with the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) to resolve one of the most vexing problems facing
public safety communicators in the United States &ndash; interference on
critical public safety channels coming from cellular telephone systems.
Recent FCC rulings will open channels that were often unusable in
emergencies, especially in major urban areas.

Since September 11th, the Administration has allocated over $200 million
specifically to address the ability of fire, medical, and law
enforcement personnel to communicate with each other, even when they are
from different jurisdictions.  In addition, Homeland Security has
provided over $5.4 billion to the states, any part of which could also
be used for interoperable communications.

Because interoperability and compatibility in emergency response must
expand beyond communications, Homeland Security also announced this year
the first set of standards for personal protective equipment developed
to protect first responders against chemical, biological, radiological
and nuclear incidents - protecting them as they protect others.
Ongoing Interoperability Efforts:

Homeland Security has partnered with the Commonwealth of Virginia, which
experienced a terrorist attack on the Pentagon on September 11th, to
develop a statewide planning process for public safety communications
and Interoperability.  The practitioner-driven methodology used to
develop this plan will serve as a model that can be replicated by other
states and regions across the country.

In May 2004, Secretary Ridge announced the formation of a new office of
interoperability and compatibility that will strengthen federal
government efforts already underway and ensure better coordination and
accountability for federal government activities relating to research
and development, testing and evaluation, standards, technical
assistance, training, and grant funding for interoperability.  This new
office will expand Homeland Security&rsquo;s interoperability efforts to
other areas of need, including equipment and training, and provide
authority and accountability to make it all happen.

Homeland Security is leading a nationwide assessment of the
country&rsquo;s communications capabilities and shortfalls to help the
United States plan for the future and continually monitor progress
against specific benchmarks.

The Department will ensure that emergency responders in every region of
the country have sufficient communications available to support a major
emergency, expanding the ten urban-area goal of RapidCom 9/30.

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=3869

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/61FxlB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 

-- 
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address 
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEXTEL-1/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    [email-masked]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/