Army Maj.Gen. Mark Bowman, Joint Chiefs of Staff CIO.
The U.S. military operates many of the world’s largest and most complex computer and communications networks, giving the Defense Department extraordinary capability and flexibility to conduct a vast assortment of global operations, from direct combat to humanitarian missions. Keep reading →
Mobile technology is not only impacting how people and organizations work, it’s also beginning to impact the U.S. economy in new and not-altogether-surprising ways.
A new report from Recon Analytics, presented by Roger Entner at an event last month hosted by the Progressive Policy Institute, highlighted some of the significant ways the U.S. wireless industry is changing the nation’s economic landscape, and in turn, is adding momentum to adoption of mobile technology in the workplace. Keep reading →
President Barack Obama signed into law today a tax cut extension bill that includes long-awaited provisions for setting aside wireless communications spectrum to help build a nationwide public safety network for first responder organizations.
The allocation to public safety organizations of the much-needed wireless spectrum, known as the 700 MHz D-Block, comes exactly 10 years, 23 weeks and 4 days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 – the event that highlighted in agonizing detail the inability of firemen, police and emergency responders to communicate in a timely, effective manner. Keep reading →
The fight to obtain additional wireless communications spectrum capable of providing police, firemen and emergency managers with the same capabilities most 15 year-olds have on their smart phones has been ongoing since the attacks of September 11, 2001, when outdated radios prevented firefighters and police from communicating evacuation orders. Hundreds died because they could not hear those orders.
And while little has changed in the decade since then, the Obama Administration last month publicly announced its support to transfer a swath of wireless spectrum known as the D block to first responder agencies for the purpose of building a nationwide, interoperable wireless public safety network – a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission.
The decision puts the White House squarely at odds with a powerful faction of wireless companies that continue to pressure Congress for a public auction of the available spectrum. Those companies argue the spectrum is critical to American competitiveness in an increasingly wireless world and a sale would raise an estimated $28 billion that could be applied to deficit reduction. Keep reading →
Vice President Biden speaks on June 16, 2011 about the importance of creating a national public safety broadband network at a meeting with first responders, public safety advocates and Administration officials.