DHS to Launch Interoperable Communications Office
The Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) is launching an Office of Interoperability & Compatibility, DHS Secy. Tom Ridge said Mon. DHS said the office would “oversee the wide range of public safety interoperability programs” spread across DHS, but critics were quick to ask whether the announcement was largely political.
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Democrats have consistently criticized President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress for not doing enough to get funding to states and local govts. for interoperable communications in the 3 years since the Sept. 11 attacks. Administration officials say U.S. emergency responders are 15-20 years away from fully interoperable communications. “It’s no coincidence this comes out a little more than a month before the election,” said a source with ties to Democrats: “Republicans aren’t taking any chances and this issue had some traction.”
But Greg Rohde, NTIA dir. during the Clinton Administration, told us the move was welcome. “The federal government needs to do more to advance interoperability - it’s one of the most critical things for first responders,” Rohde said. “If all it does is brings focus on interoperability at the federal govt. it helps. Hopefully it can do more than that.” Rohde said one area that needs more emphasis is interoperability between federal, state and local agencies.
“This office will ensure that Homeland Security is exercising its leadership role to bring local, state, and federal efforts together in a partnership that is essential to national progress on interoperability,” Ridge said Mon., announcing the office: “This is a national effort, not a federal effort, and I thank the first responder community for their initiative and collaboration.”
DHS said the office would be responsible for: (1) Establishing federal interoperability standards. (2) Supporting a “comprehensive” research, development, testing, and evaluation program for improving public safety interoperability. (3) Coordinating grant programs. (4) Conducting pilot projects. (5) Establishing an interagency interoperability coordination council.
“We're supportive of that [announcement] since it preserves the SAFECOM program,” said Robert Gurss, APCO dir.-legal & govt. affairs. “Anything that raises the profile of the interoperability issue is beneficial.” Steve Seitz, govt. affairs dir. at NENA, said he was pleased the office would look at data as well as narrow- band radio communications. “We're excited to see the office look beyond traditional emergency communications issues like radio and into data,” Seitz said. “One thing we've learned since September 11 in emergency communications is that there’s more than radio out there. Having that data interoperable with other systems is also important.”
The changes at DHS come after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that the federal govt. needed to establish more coordination in order to encourage more interoperability between public safety organizations. Testifying before the House Govt. Affairs National Security Subcommittee in July, David Boyd, Project SAFECOM mgr. for DHS, said the DHS’s Office of Interoperability & Compatibility would help create the central authority to promote interoperability. Boyd said DHS should have a better evaluation of interoperability problems by year-end.
Testifying before Congress during recent hearings, several govt. officials said effectively establishing interoperability would take years. FCC Wireless Bureau Chief John Muleta said it could take 5 years just to finish comprehensive planning, which he said was 80% of the project. William Jenkins, GAO dir.-homeland security & justice issues, said there would be little progress made in 5 years unless the DHS took appropriate steps to establish better coordination.
The GAO had several recommendations for DHS: (1) Develop a nationwide database of interoperable public safety frequency channels and a standard nationwide nomenclature for the channels. (2) Establish requirements for interoperable communications. (3) Use DHS grant guidance to encourage states to establish a single statewide body to assess interoperability and develop a statewide plan for all communication systems. (4) At the appropriate time, have DHS grants require that equipment purchases conform with statewide interoperability plans. GAO also recommended that the DHS and the OMB review SAFECOM’s functions and establish it as a long-term program with adequate authority and funding. - Howard Buskirk, Terry Lane