FirstNet Focused on Outreach, Getting Input on Network Policies, Official Says
FirstNet Director-State Consultation Dave Buchanan said Tuesday the authority's consultation program will drive toward three goals in 2016, as the FirstNet committee held discussions leading to a meeting of the full board Wednesday. The goals include expanding outreach and getting more input on network policies and processes, he said. FirstNet is also concerned about getting state officials ready to make their decisions about whether to participate, he said.
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There are four key elements that make up the consultation approach for 2016 that Buchanan hopes to pursue in order to reach those goals, he said. They start with a single point of contact (SPOC) kickoff meeting, which the committee will conduct in the early part of the new year. Buchanan also wants to connect and consult with leaders using the existing governance body meetings, which he also plans to do in the beginning of the new year. Buchanan also promised what he’s calling consultation time -- task teams, to consult with subject matter experts and ask the states to bring FirstNet the specific people who are experts in a series of consultation issues, he said. Fourth is what Buchanan calls the executive consultation meeting, which brings together key influencers, decision-makers, and officials in state, local and tribal government who will be important to the governor's decision or the network deployment decision in the states.
The FirstNet committees also had “significant issues” to discuss in closed session Tuesday during the start of their meetings in Houston. Those issues weren’t disclosed at the end of the meeting Tuesday, nor will they be read out at Wednesday’s meeting, said Chairwoman Sue Swenson, of the FirstNet Governance and Personnel Committee.
Each committee reported on progress for the year and then there were updates on user advocacy, technology and finance. Over the past year, the Governance and Personnel Committee passed some resolutions, including the creation of the position of the FirstNet CEO and president, said Swenson. The committee also reviewed the operational architecture that was in the draft request for proposals and will be an important part of the request for proposals and provide an input to the organizational architecture, she said.
Most of the Technology Committee’s activity surrounded the advancement of technology and the RFP process, said Barry Boniface, chairman of the technology committee. The committee passed a resolution to authorize management to publish for comment the draft procurement document that reflects the acquisition roadmap, he said. It also passed a resolution that recommended the board approve the final acquisition approach, Boniface said. Vice Chairman Jeff Johnson, FirstNet Consultation and Outreach Committee, said the committee did more than 60 events in the past year. Representatives of the committee met with fire and police chiefs to talk about “what they care about, what they need to know more about, what they want to see more of and less of," he said.
FirstNet plans to complete internal control program implementation in FY 2016, said Kim Farington, FirstNet acting chief financial officer, during her report to the board's finance committee. “We are making great strides with regard to internal controls,” she said. “I am happy to say that as part of our internal control program, we did an entity level risk assessment of FirstNet and the results were very, very positive. We do have good internal controls in place.” FirstNet has four pillars on goals that it will be focusing on that create the foundation for the organization’s five-year plan, Farington said. That includes partnerships, stakeholder engagement and innovation, she said.
Since October, the federal user advocacy staff team for FirstNet has doubled to 30 members, said Amanda Hilliard, director-outreach. There were also two new staff members that joined the tribal outreach team, she said.