By Edward Parkinson, FirstNet Director of Government Affairs

The 80th annual Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International Conference and Expo is in full swing today, with the Exhibit Hall now open and a variety of panels and professional development tracks underway. It’s great to see so many public safety representatives from Federal, local, state, and tribal agencies here in New Orleans. FirstNet looks forward to continuing our dialogue together about deploying a public safety broadband network over the next several days.

APCO also held an Executive Council Meeting this past Friday, August 1st which I was fortunate to participate in. APCO is a member of the Public Safety Advisory Committee that advises FirstNet from a public safety perspective and provides us with guidance, information and subject matter expertise on key issues. The EC meeting provided an opportunity to learn more about APCO’s priorities and programs and to update them on recent FirstNet developments, such as the status of our consultation and outreach efforts in the states and territories.

There was a great deal of discussion at the EC meeting on a topic that will be raised many times this week and beyond: the need for coordination on the deployment of Next Generation 911 and the nationwide public safety broadband network. Both are important opportunities to upgrade and modernize the communications systems that telecommunicators and first responders rely on to carry out their missions. APCO is an important partner in our efforts to build the nationwide network. Its annual conference is an ideal forum for having focused discussions around the integration of NG-911 and the public safety broadband network so we can identify potential synergies between them.

In addition, arriving a few days before the start of the conference allowed me to catch up with a number of FirstNet partners from public safety agencies and organizations – including Jeff Cohen, who is APCO’s Chief Counsel for Law and Policy; Mitch Herckis from NASCIO; Victoria Garcia, who is the Statewide Interoperability Coordinator for Hawaii, and various other SPOCs and SWICs.

Yesterday I sat in on a few panels about key issues to consider when deploying and operating a public safety broadband – such as site hardening and the definition of public safety grade report developed by the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC). I also participated in a lively conference panel on the intersection of information technology and public safety communications with Mitch Herckis and Bill Schrier, who is Washington State’s single point of contact (SPOC) for FirstNet and the former CIO for Seattle.

Thanks again to APCO for inviting me to their EC meeting and for creating so many opportunities for FirstNet to engage with attendees this week in New Orleans.