Innovation
A robust broadband ecosystem for public safety demands a proven pool of mobile apps based on the needs of the responder community. The FirstNet applications strategy is to enable the creation of public safety mobile applications while maintaining support for existing commercial applications. This will establish a portfolio of resilient, reliable, secure and easy-to-use mobile applications for first responders.
The FirstNet Authority Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) held its bi-annual meeting in Austin, TX, where more than 20 PSAC members gathered to discuss 2019 activities and accomplishments and 2020 goals and initiatives. Kenzie Capece, FirstNet Authority Senior Public Safety Advisor, recaps the conversation on the FirstNet Authority Roadmap and special presentations from FirstNet, Built with AT&T, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
As technology rapidly evolves, more and more tools are becoming available to first responders. Over the past year, the FirstNet Authority has supported several innovation contests that encourage entrepreneurs, researchers, and public safety professionals to develop solutions to assist emergency responders. Brian Hobson, Director of the FirstNet Authority Enterprise Strategy Division, breaks down some of these contests and how the FirstNet Authority is helping drive innovation forward.
The FirstNet Authority supports the Tech to Protect Challenge, hosted by National Institute of Standards and Technology Public Safety Communications Research Division.
When disaster strikes, public safety and local officials need the best tools to save lives, and a critical response infrastructure is necessary to help economies recover and remain resilient after these events. In recognition of this, three agencies within the Department of Commerce have come together to launch the Accelerate R2 Network Challenge to foster innovations in response and resiliency technologies.
Coders and developers in Seattle participated in the Tech to Protect Challenge, sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and supported by the FirstNet Authority, to develop innovative technologies to help first responders
The Seattle Fire Department experienced the benefits of FirstNet during the SeaFair 2019 festival. Despite the more than 350,000 people in attendance, firefighters and paramedics were able to communicate important safety information during the event.
(WASHINGTON) Three U.S. Department of Commerce agencies have launched a first-of-its-kind interagency challenge focused on accelerating innovations for disaster response and resilience technology.
Tech to Protect, NIST PSCR’s national innovative challenge, introduces coding contests designed to foster communications technology solutions that will aid emergency responders in serving and protecting communities nationwide. Participants will compete for cash prizes from a pool of $2.2 million. The FirstNet Authority is pleased to have technical subject matter experts from our organization leading three contests.
Members of the FirstNet Board’s Technology and Public Safety Advocacy Committees visited the Georgia Cyber Center in Augusta, GA to learn more about the evolving cyber threat landscape and the center’s focus on promoting and fostering innovation and technical collaboration.
Public safety agencies in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, joined FirstNet in 2019. Now, first responders have access to a network built for their needs with priority and preemption capabilities that help them quickly and securely communicate during everyday incidents, large events, and emergencies.
At the Texas A&M University Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center’s 2019 Winter Institute Workshop and Exercise, first responders trained on how to respond during an earthquake. FirstNet was used to enhance operational communications during a simulated natural disaster.
The FirstNet Authority and University of Mississippi Medical Center today signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on innovation for emergency medical care and response as well as mobile broadband for rural first responders in Mississippi and nationwide.
Paramedic units with the AtlatiCare Regional Medical Center are using a telemedicine application on smartphones running on the FirstNet network. FirstNet provides these EMS teams with a secure connection to send information, ultimately saving time and providing better patient care.
The FirstNet network is enabling more resilient communities nationwide. With more than 5,250 public safety agencies using 425,000+ connections on FirstNet today, the network is helping first responders and communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.
Coders competed in a FirstNet First Responders Hackathon at the Illinois Institute of Technology to develop apps to help first responders carry out their duties more efficiently.