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Fact Sheet: RapidCom 9/30 and Interoperability Progress

Release Date: 07/30/04 00:00:00

On July 22, 2004, President Bush formally announced RapidCom 9/30, a program that will enable America’s first responders in ten urban areas to communicate with each other in the event of a large emergency incident like a terrorist attack.  By September 30, 2004, a crisis communications capability will be in place in these ten high-threat urban areas to address the inability of emergency workers to communicate, a long-standing problem which contributed to the tragedy of September 11th.  

Until now, cities have used their Homeland Security grant money to purchase compatible equipment but there are other key factors that are necessary to achieve interoperability.  RapidCom9/30 provides the resources for these urban areas to integrate such additional factors into an effective incident response capability.  In addition to specifying equipment needs, RapidCom 9/30 engages public safety officials to identify and incorporate each community’s key factors of frequency of use, standard operating procedures, regional governance, and training and exercises – the crucial human factors in the interoperability equation – into an interoperability solution. President Bush and the Department of Homeland Security are committed to both short-term and long-term solutions to this critical issue:

Improving Interoperability Now:

  • RapidCom 9/30 will ensure that ten high-threat urban areas have incident-level, interoperable emergency communications capability by September 30, 2004.  The areas include: New York, NY; Chicago, IL; Washington, DC and the surrounding Capital Region; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Philadelphia, PA; Houston, TX; Jersey City, NJ; Miami, FL; and Boston, MA.

  • While full interoperability will remain a long-term priority, RapidCom 9/30 will strengthen incident communications interoperability in these urban areas for an incident area approximately the size of the attacks on the World Trade Center towers on September 11th and ensure that incident commanders have the ability to adequately communicate with each other and their respective command centers.  At the incident area, first responders from various disciplines and regional jurisdictions will be able to communicate using existing equipment that is made interoperable by a patch-panel device, interconnecting various models of equipment that would otherwise not be compatible.

  • Achieving interoperability will require more than just linked equipment, and RapidCom 9/30 provides the ten urban areas the assistance they need to make that equipment work, including:  technical assistance in setting up the technology; development of standard operating procedures that will guide all public safety officials; training in the use of the equipment; help in planning and conducting test exercises; and assistance in establishing a regional governance structure that brings all relevant agencies together cooperatively.

  • RapidCom 9/30 is the latest example of how the Department of Homeland Security is working hand-in-hand with state and local governments and public safety officials to make America safer.  The local knowledge and active involvement of officials in these urban areas is critical to achieve interoperability. RapidCom 9/30 is designed to fit the unique needs of each urban area, and Homeland Security is providing guidance and expertise to promote local leadership, planning, and collaboration.  

  • The successes achieved in these cities will serve both as a foundation for a replicable model of incident-level interoperability in other urban areas, and for the long-term goal of full interoperability that first responders and public safety officials will use on a daily basis.

Interoperability Progress Since 9/11:

  • In 2004, the Department of Homeland Security released the first national Statement of Requirements for Wireless Public Safety Communications and Interoperability, which constitutes the first national definition of what interoperability must accomplish.  It will drive the development and creation of interface standards that will satisfy public safety practitioner needs, offer industry a resource for understanding user needs in the development of new technologies, and serve as a guide in defining research, development, test, and evaluation programs.  Within a month of its release, over 5,000 copies of the Statement of Requirements had been downloaded, and manufacturers have begun mapping the capabilities of their equipment – especially new designs – to these requirements.

  • Homeland Security has created the first-ever council to coordinate all the interoperability efforts of federal agencies involved in every element of communications at each level of government: those who build and operate federal systems, those who manage grants and technical assistance programs for state and local activities, and those who regulate the airwaves.

  • This year Homeland Security has worked with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to resolve one of the most vexing problems facing public safety communicators in the United States – interference on critical public safety channels coming from cellular telephone systems.  Recent FCC rulings will open channels that were often unusable in emergencies, especially in major urban areas.

  • Since September 11th, the Administration has allocated over $200 million specifically to address the ability of fire, medical, and law enforcement personnel to communicate with each other, even when they are from different jurisdictions.  In addition, Homeland Security has provided over $5.4 billion to the states, any part of which could also be used for interoperable communications.

  • Because interoperability and compatibility in emergency response must expand beyond communications, Homeland Security also announced this year the first set of standards for personal protective equipment developed to protect first responders against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents - protecting them as they protect others.

Ongoing Interoperability Efforts:

  • Homeland Security has partnered with the Commonwealth of Virginia, which experienced a terrorist attack on the Pentagon on September 11th, to develop a statewide planning process for public safety communications and Interoperability.  The practitioner-driven methodology used to develop this plan will serve as a model that can be replicated by other states and regions across the country.

  • In May 2004, Secretary Ridge announced the formation of a new office of interoperability and compatibility that will strengthen federal government efforts already underway and ensure better coordination and accountability for federal government activities relating to research and development, testing and evaluation, standards, technical assistance, training, and grant funding for interoperability.  This new office will expand Homeland Security’s interoperability efforts to other areas of need, including equipment and training, and provide authority and accountability to make it all happen.

  • Homeland Security is leading a nationwide assessment of the country’s communications capabilities and shortfalls to help the United States plan for the future and continually monitor progress against specific benchmarks.

  • The Department will ensure that emergency responders in every region of the country have sufficient communications available to support a major emergency, expanding the ten urban-area goal of RapidCom 9/30.

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This page was last reviewed/modified on 07/30/04 00:00:00.