By Amanda Hilliard, FirstNet Director of Outreach
As part of our continuing outreach and coordination with the states and territories, FirstNet conducted individualized outreach to each of the 56 State and Territory Single Points of Contact (SPOCs) in July. The purpose of these calls was to underscore the importance of data collection for informing FirstNet’s acquisition toward a Comprehensive Network Solution(s) and state plans development, understand everyone’s current data collection status, and determine if any further support may be needed from FirstNet. SPOCs were asked to estimate, on a scale of 1 to 5, their progress, with 1 indicating that data collection was in progress and ahead of schedule, and 5 indicating that collection had not yet started and the state would probably not be able to meet FirstNet’s September 30 deadline for submitting data.
Overall, the majority of SPOCs reported their data collection status between 1 and 2, indicating that they plan to provide data by September 30. Most also reported a high level of outreach and consultation with metropolitan and rural areas within their respective states and territories, with some making direct calls or holding in-person meetings with agencies at all levels of government on the data collection process. Some metropolitan areas in particular have been especially engaged with their state/territorial governments. Many states and territories are focusing their outreach on professional associations, which they are hoping will be conduits for information in both directions.
Tribal engagement has also been going well on the whole, with the biggest successes seeming to coincide with states working through their governor’s office, whether that be through a preexisting Indian Affairs liaison or on a more ad hoc basis. A few states have asked for additional support from FirstNet, and our tribal liaison Carl Rebstock and his team are working hard to establish and strengthen relationships with tribes and make sure that their interests will be represented in all state plans that are developed.
It has been especially helpful for us here at FirstNet to hear from the SPOCs about best practices they are finding through these processes. In addition to the governors’ offices, some states and territories have found that their individual Geographic Information Services (GIS), fire marshal, or homeland security offices tend to have a wealth of data that can serve as a starting point for data collection or as a corroborating source. More than a few SPOCs have also found that they get more and better responses when they keep data requests as simple and manageable in size as possible. While many states and territories are using a Mobile Data Survey Tool (MDST) as their primary data collection method, some are finding that their independently developed surveys are easier to use and more likely to encourage responses.
Leading up to the September 30 deadline, FirstNet will continue to share state and territory data collection lessons learned with the SPOC community. Thank you to all the SPOCs and their staff that are working hard to meet this important deadline. For more information on the data collection effort, please see the video on our YouTube channel (or below), and fact sheet.
