Department of Homeland Security's
Science and Technology Directorate's
2008 OIC Industry Roundtable
“Partnering to create a system of systems framework and streamline communications
in the emergency response community”
June 2, 2008
Ronald Reagan International Trade Center
Washington, D.C.
Agenda
1:00 – 1:30 CCI Welcome
1:30 – 3:00 PLENARY I: Information Sharing/GIS for Emergency Response: Possibilities of the Future
Within a system of systems framework, multiple systems – comprised of people, organizations and technology - must collaborate to develop information sharing methods. When one independently owned system can connect with other local, regional or state systems, the response community benefits from an improved flow of information and interoperability. These panelists, representing local, state, and national efforts that use next-generation GIS and information sharing technologies, will describe their use of the system of systems approach and invite industry to continue to develop these promising solutions.
Moderator:
Dr. David Boyd, Director Command, Control and Interoperability; Science and Technology Directorate; U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Panelists:
· Kevin McGinnis, Program Advisor, National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO)
· Joe Ordia, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ordia Solutions
· Theresa Taylor, Commander, Beverly Hills Police Department
· Don Teesdale, Homeland Security liaison with Maryland State Police Aviation Command
3:00 – 3:15 Break
3:15 – 4:15 PLENARY II: Industry Participation in Compliance Assessment Programs (CAP): Building Confidence into Your Product
Compliance assessment programs provide industry the ability to be compatible with communications standards and provide assurance to the customer community that the equipment or software they’ve purchased from one manufacturer will work with the equipment or software of any other manufacturer. This session will detail two examples of compliance assessment programs: Project 25 (P25) CAP and the NIMS Supporting Technology Evaluation Program (STEP). P25 CAP allows P25 equipment suppliers to formally demonstrate their products’ compliance. The P25 CAP includes a rigorous and objective assessment process of laboratories involved in the testing of manufacturers’ communications system products. The emergency response community can have confidence in the interoperability of products tested by these labs and their compliance with P25 standards. The NIMS STEP evaluates the adherence of products to the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and the EDXL suite of standards. The NIMS STEP provides an independent, objective third party evaluation of commercial and government hardware and software products related to incident management.
Moderator: Luke Klein-Berndt, Chief Technology Officer; Command, Control and Interoperability;
Science and Technology Directorate; U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Panelists:
· Cynthia Cole, Business Operations Director of Standards and Strategy, Motorola
· Jim Downes, Chief, IRD/WMO, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Emergency Communications
· Chad Foster, Standard and Technology Branch, Incident Management Systems/Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
· Dereck Orr, Program Manager, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)/Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES)
· David Steingraber, Executive Director, Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance
4:15 – 4:30 Break
4:30 – 5:30 PLENARY III: Voice Quality Issue: The Vocoder Challenge
Voice encoders, or “vocoders”, are at the heart of all digital communications systems, including the digital radio technology increasingly used by public safety. While digital radios offer better security, more efficient use of spectrum, and many other new features, the noisy environments in which they’re used may pose challenges to the vocoders that need to pick out and digitize speech above the noise of saws and sirens. Other problems, like channel errors and signal fading when used in moving vehicles, may plague the new digital systems more than the analog systems being replaced. This session will address actions taken to ensure voice quality so that public safety can communicate effectively in critical situations.
Moderator: Denis Gusty, Acting Deputy Director; Command, Control and Interoperability; Science and Technology Directorate; U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Panelists:
· D.J. Atkinson, Lead Electronics Engineer, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Institute for Telecommunications Sciences (ITS)
· John Hardwick, President and co-founder, Digital Voice Systems, Inc.
· Dr. Ernie Hofmeister, Technology Fellow, Tyco Electronics M/A-COM
· Charles Werner, Fire Chief, Charlottesville, VA