Amanda Hilliard, FirstNet Director of Outreach

The Mid-Atlantic Consortium for Interoperable Nationwide Advanced Communications (MACINAC) held its 2nd Annual Public Safety Broadband Workshop on January 28-29, 2015. The event, held in in Richmond, Virginia, featured presentations and discussions on recent communications developments in the region to the approximately 80 public, private, and non-profit sector representatives in attendance.

In addition to the MACINAC’s five member states (Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia), the District of Columbia and North Carolina also attended the workshop. MACINAC is a state-controlled regional multi-state initiative established with the goal to assist FirstNet in ensuring the planning, building, and operation of the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN) in the Mid-Atlantic region. MACINAC serves a coordination function to help member states prepare for and make decisions regarding the NPSBN in a concerted and cooperative fashion.

I remember when this group was established in early 2011, when the statewide interoperability coordinators (SWICs) in the Mid-Atlantic began sponsoring and developing a multi-state, regional approach to emergency communications. During last week’s workshop, it was great to see how the MACINAC has grown and evolved over the past four years.

The workshop featured a number of updates on the NPSBN from federal and state government leaders and organizations in the field of wireless public safety broadband. Key topics of discussion included a regional round table of state single points of contacts (SPOCs)/SWICs regarding NPSBN outreach and planning; an update on the State and Local Implementation Grant Program (SLIGP); a review of broadband technologies and applications development; and several issues specific to the NPSBN, such as local control, coverage requirements, and potential users of the network.

During my presentation, I discussed recent FirstNet developments and our top priorities for 2015 in the states and territories. As part of my remarks, I reviewed key findings from our consultation meetings in the states and territories to date and talked about how we are in the process of developing a draft Request for Proposal. I thanked the MACINAC for their input to the Request for Information (RFI) and Public Notice that FirstNet released last fall, and encouraged the members to continue to stay involved in the consultation process. On the second day, my colleague Brian Kassa, Director of Technology, Planning and Development, provided an update on the FirstNet Chief Technology Office activities and an overview of priority and quality of service framework considerations for the NPSBN, which prompted a great discussion with the group.

It was good to catch up with and hear from representatives from several states in the mid-Atlantic region, including Delaware SPOC and SWIC Mark Grubb, DC’s SPOC Jack Burbridge, Maryland’s acting SPOC Lori Stone, Pennsylvania’s new SPOC Captain William Williams, Virginia Department of Emergency Management State Coordinator Jeffrey Stern, and West Virginia’s SWIC G.E. McCabe.

Thanks again to MACINAC for the opportunity to present at their broadband workshop.

-Amanda