Public Safety, New Technologies, and the Future of Emergency Response

The communications technology used by public safety constitutes a critical element of our homeland security infrastructure. From the point at which a citizen calls 911, much of the ability of first responders to manage an emergency situation rests on the effectiveness of their information and communications technology. Whether it involves an awareness of the location of the 911 caller, the ability of emergency service provider to communicate during times of crisis, or the ability of different emergency service agencies to communicate with one another, technological failings can lead to lost lives, lost opportunities, and compromised effectiveness for public safety. Despite the well publicized failings during times of crisis (e.g., Columbine, 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina), both state and federal leadership has often been either lacking or ineffectual in this area.

This conference will take a look forward at the future of emergency response, evaluating how new technologies can be adopted to enable first responders to operate more effectively. A starting point for the discussion will be a report developed by Silicon Flatirons last spring as a result of a grant from CTIA-The Wireless Association and a Roundtable that brought together leaders from industry, academia, and the public safety community. Similarly, the conference will evaluate the state of the E-911 system, using as a starting point the analysis offered by Dale Hatfield in a widely praised report commissioned by the FCC. In addition to exploring the array of opportunities and challenges related to public safety communications (as to both interoperability and the development of next generation networks) and the upgrade of the E-911 system, we will also analyze the difficult intergovernmental relations issues that must be addressed to move forward on either front.