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This week, iCERT filed Comments with the FCC in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Location-Based Routing (LBR). The use of a caller’s location to route a 911 call is important to promoting improved emergency response, and iCERT supports the FCC’s efforts to promote LBR and a broader implementation of NG911 across the country. Specifically, we broadly support the implementation and use of LBR technology and a more rapid implementation of NG911 capabilities that often occur concurrently. Further, implementation of such technologies will dramatically improve emergency response efforts, and we appreciate the efforts of the FCC to facilitate broader implementation of both.

A reminder that The 2023 edition of 911 Goes To Washington (GTW) is coming up at the end of the month, February 26th– March 1st, and we encourage iCERT members to attend. GTW typically provides a very timely opportunity for attendees to learn about front burner issues facing 9-1-1, and then have the opportunity to take immediate action through meetings with elected and appointed officials. You can find GTW registration information and details here: https://www.nena.org/page/gtw This year’s GTW presents a very timely opportunity, given the current state of play regarding NG911 funding legislation. As we reported at the beginning of the year, NG911 funding language came very close to being included in the year-end Omnibus funding bill passed by the Congress at the end of last year. Unfortunately, it was not; however, language in the Omnibus bill regarding extending the FCC’s spectrum auction authority, which NG911 funding has been tied to, extended this authority until March 9th. As a result, there is continued momentum to arrive at a longer-term extension by early March, which we are using to continue the drumbeat for inclusion of NG911 funding language in the final bill. Therefore, we are calling on as many iCERT members as possible to attend GTW in late February. As you make your plans for attending GTW, we encourage you and /or your companies to schedule meetings with your Congressional Representatives and Senators during your time in Washington. As you schedule meetings on Capitol Hill, please let either Don Brittingham or George Kelemen know, so we can track meetings and avoid any overlap. Additionally, if you need contact information for your Congressional Representatives or assistance in scheduling meetings, please feel free to reach out to either Don or I and we can help you out.

iCERT’s Board of Directors recently approved the 2023 Policy Platform, renewing the association’s commitment to advance State and Federal policies that promote widespread adoption of advanced technologies and standards that improve emergency response and increase the public’s safety.

Happy New Year iCERT Members! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season as we wrapped up 2022, where we began to finally adjust to life with COVID in our midst, yet were also able to get almost 100% back to “normal.” iCERT definitely enjoyed some significant successes in 2022, while also continuing to grow and build in many areas. As we begin 2023, we will build upon our successes from last year, and continue to refine and grow as a key association within the emergency response ecosystem. In short, we plan to take it up a notch! During 2022, we were able to directly engage with iCERT members in many ways, ranging from our two successful member meetings (Seattle in May and DC in December) to our increasingly popular iCERT happy hours at the IWCE, NENA, and APCO conferences, to our revamped newsletter and member survey to better understand how to best meet the needs of our members and your teams. We also launched exciting new opportunities for members to better leverage the iCERT platform to connect with other industry leaders through our sponsorship programs. These got off to a very good start in 2022, but they will be key to iCERT’s ability to continue delivering top quality member value and content in 2023 and going forward. Thank you to the initial group of member companies who stepped up to make our 2022 events such a success! We hope more iCERT member companies will see the value generated through sponsorship and will choose to participate in 2023 and beyond. On the topic of 2023 iCERT member meetings, stay tuned for an announcement soon regarding details about our 2023 member meeting opportunities. On the advocacy front, 2022 was a good year for iCERT and saw us make significant progress on our top priority of securing funding for full deployment of NG911. We helped secure House passage of the bipartisan Spectrum Innovation Act, which included up to $10 Billion in funding for NG911, and also formed the basis for language which was on the table for inclusion in the year-end Omnibus funding bill up until the last minute (more on next steps below). Additionally, throughout 2022 we engaged and coordinated with more iCERT members, as well as external partners alike, on advocacy priorities such as the NG911 funding effort. I am particularly pleased that over the course of last year, iCERT was able to forge a much more productive working relationship with the Public Safety NG911 Coalition, and act as bridge to NENA and NASNA. This created a show of unity which was hugely important on this key issue which we all share as a top priority. Maintaining this cooperation, open communication and unity will be critical going forward if we are to be successful. As we begin 2023, we begin with the momentum from late last year for passage of NG911 funding. As was mentioned above, NG911 funding language came very close to being included in the year-end Omnibus funding bill passed by the Congress just before Christmas. Unfortunately, it was not; however, language in the Omnibus bill regarding extending the FCC’s spectrum auction authority, which NG911 funding has been tied to, only extended this authority until March 9th. As a result, there is continued momentum to arrive at a longer-term extension by early March, which we are using to continue the drumbeat for inclusion of NG911 funding language in the final bill. We will be providing updates as developments warrant over these important first few weeks of the year, but if you or your company would like to be more engaged in our advocacy efforts, please reach out to either Don Brittingham or myself. iCERT’s committees and work groups continue to thrive and engage in productive work on behalf of the association. However, as always, new members for committees are always welcome. Currently, there are opportunities for additional committee members on the Marketing Committee and Member Meeting Planning Committee, as well as on the Innovation & Technology Committee. Additionally, in 2022 we established a new Small Business Committee for our smaller member companies to network and forward ideas to the broader membership. We also established an Outreach Work Group to guide our efforts in establishing connections and relationships with organizations where we currently don’t have any. Those of you who attended the December Member Meeting will recall the brief presentation on TCCA; leveraging relationships with international organizations where our members already have them has been an initial focus of the Outreach Work Group. If you or a colleague are interested, please reach out to me and I’ll be happy to connect you to the respective Committee or Work Group leaders. Lastly, we are planning to schedule a member webinar during the week of January 23rd, to provide the membership with additional updates regarding the 2024 IWCE PSAP of the Future project, our member survey from last fall, an opportunity to hear from DelTek representatives regarding getting the most from one of the most valuable iCERT member benefits – the bid lists we provide members almost daily, in addition to any other timely updates. We’ll be sending out a calendar invite later this week, so I hope you can join us. Thanks for your continued support of iCERT. We look forward to continuing to work with each of you and to making 2023 a great year for iCERT!

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, December 21, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT) issued the following statement in support of the FCC's action today regarding a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on a proposal to require wireless carriers and covered text providers to implement location-based routing on their networks in order to reduce misrouting of wireless 911 calls and texts and improve emergency response times. The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT) applauds the FCC for taking steps to advance the implementation of location-based routing. Our nation’s emergency response systems are vital to the safety and security of our communities, and the timely delivery of location information to the right emergency communications center can be the difference between life and death. Location-based routing will reduce the number of misrouted calls and save lives. We look forward to working with the FCC to promote the prompt and effective implementation of location-based routing. About Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies: The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (“iCERT”) is the only trade association exclusively representing commercial enterprises and software providers in the field of critical communications and emergency response technologies. iCERT plays an important role in addressing public policy issues impacting funding, regulation, and the impact of established vendors and entrepreneurs in the emergency calling, communications, and response ecosystem. iCERT members understand that business leaders’ expertise can assist public policymakers and agency professionals as they address complex choices regarding advanced communications technology alternatives. Find out more at www.theindustrycouncil.org.

The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies, Inc. (iCERT), the nation’s only trade association composed exclusively of commercial public safety technology and response organizations, has elected its Board Officers, which comprise its Executive Committee, for 2023. The iCERT Board of Directors re-elected its five current Board Officers to another one-year term. The following iCERT Board Officers were re-elected: - Chairman: Eric Hagerson, T-Mobile - Vice-Chairman: Duane Anderson, EF Johnson Technologies, Inc, a JVCKENWOOD Company - Past Chairman: David Jones, Mission Critical Partners - ​Treasurer: Mary Boyd, Intrado - Secretary: Lynne Houserman, Motorola Solutions “On behalf of iCERT, I congratulate the 2023 Board Officers and thank each of the iCERT Board Members who were nominated for leadership positions in our organization. I look forward to working alongside the newly elected Executive Committee during the next year to continue to grow iCERT, as well as increase iCERT’s relevance and impact in support of public safety.” The iCERT Board Officers’ new one-year terms begin on January 1, 2023. About Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (“iCERT”) is the only trade association exclusively representing commercial enterprises and software providers in the field of critical communications and emergency response technologies. iCERT plays an important role in addressing public policy issues impacting funding, regulation, and the impact of established vendors and entrepreneurs in the emergency calling, communications, and response ecosystem. iCERT members understand that business leaders’ expertise can assist public policymakers and agency professionals as they address complex choices regarding advanced communications technology alternatives. Find out more at www.theindustrycouncil.org.

IWCE's Urgent Communications' Donny Jackson's coverage of the iCERT letter sent earlier this week to Senate Commerce Committee urging action on critical funding for NG911. https://urgentcomm.com/2022/10/25/icert-offers-ng911-funding-input-to-senate/

To focus increased attention on NG911 funding, iCERT sent a letter to Senate and Commerce Committee leadership earlier today. VIEW LETTER Our letter urges the Senate to act this year to pass legislation that would provide critical NG911 funding. In addition to stressing the sense of urgency for Congress to act, our goal is to demonstrate that there continues to be unified support for NG911 funding from industry and the public safety community. As we reported in early August, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Spectrum Innovation Act of 2022 (H.R. 7624), a bipartisan bill which includes NG911 funding language, on July 27th. This has created momentum as the focus shifted to the U.S. Senate, where the discussions regarding extending the FCC’s spectrum auction authority and NG911 funding have been fluid since. As a result, iCERT and our stakeholder partners are working aggressively on the Senate side, urging Senators to pass NG911 funding legislation this year. Key spectrum provisions included in the Spectrum Innovation Act, i.e., extension of the FCC’s spectrum auction authority and establishment of a spectrum pipeline, remain key issues for the Senate. However, it has become clear that neither Senate Democrats nor Republicans support the legislative framework passed by the House. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) is working on her own proposal, and we believe that includes funding for NG911. However, there continues to be disagreement among Senate Democrats and Republicans on key issues such as the length of the FCC’s auction authority, the details of a long-term spectrum pipeline, the manner in which Federal agencies would cooperate on spectrum reallocations, and how proceeds from future spectrum auctions will be used. Obviously, these are a lot of issues to resolve in a short amount of time, but we remain hopeful that the Congress will focus on these issues after the mid-term elections. iCERT remains in close communication with stakeholder groups from across the telecommunications space and will continue to coordinate with them on efforts to pass NG911 funding. If you or your company can engage and lend resources to our effort, please don’t hesitate to contact iCERT Executive Director George Kelemen executivedirector@theindutrycouncil.org or iCERT Policy Committee Chairman Don Brittingham don@northernlights.co

Make plans to attend the iCERT 2022 Fall Member Meeting in Washington, DC on December 7th. Registration is now open to ALL iCERT members – follow this link to register and view additional details, including suggested hotel options: https://www.theindustrycouncil.org//2022-fall-meeting The Planning Committee is working on putting together another great event for our membership! The Fall Member Meeting will feature remarks from federal officials and local public safety officials, in addition to innovative and informative presentations and panel discussions, as well as special guests. Additionally, the agenda will include updates from iCERT’s committees and working groups, plenty of networking time, and the always popular one-on-one networking meetings. As a special bonus opportunity, we are working to finalize an optional tour of Washington, DC’s Office of Unified Communications (DC’s PSAP) on the morning of Thursday, December 8th. Make sure to indicate your interest in doing so on the registration form (there is a place to do so) and make your travel plans accordingly. All current iCERT Members are eligible to attend and registration is free. Meeting attire is Business attire. One-On-One Member Networking Meetings - iCERT member meetings feature optional member-to-member 15-minute, private networking meetings arranged during a fixed time period. This arrangement is designed as a catalyst and to add structure to the networking process, and occurs in two parts: Part A) as part of the Registration process, you'll be asked if you’re interested in having one-on-one meetings (either which you will request, or in which other member companies will request to meet with yours), and Part B) through a survey in a few weeks, we'll list receptive companies, and ask you to pick members/attendees you would like to meet with. We will make every effort to accommodate all matching requests, however, the number of meeting requests we can accommodate will depend on the total number of meeting requests, total available meeting rooms, and total time we have for this process. We plan to invite "prospective" non-member companies to our meeting, to experience iCERT - suggestions welcome at; gkelemen@theindustrycouncil.org. Additionally, there are sponsorship opportunities at various levels to sponsor all or specific portions of the member meeting. Please consider signing on as a sponsor and help iCERT show up at its best in the Nation’s Capital! Looking forward to seeing everyone at our Fall Member Meeting. Thank you for your continued support and participation in iCERT and see y’all in DC!

iCERT has represented the public safety technology industry since 2005 and based its work on the evolving needs of its members. As we prepare for 2023, a new Congress and continued innovation in emergency response technology, we want to take this time to gather important feedback and insights from you, our members, via the 2022 membership survey. This member survey is designed to assist iCERT leadership in collecting member feedback and input into the association’s long-term strategy. Your responses will remain anonymous. However, we encourage you to identify so we may follow up with participants for results The 2022 Survey is divided into several sections and will take about 15-20 minutes to fully complete. iCERT seeks your responses to specific questions, but we also provide opportunities for you to share more detailed information. This is your opportunity to help iCERT continue to provide excellent member value, while also serving as industry’s champion. Please take the opportunity to spend a few minutes completing the survey and sharing your thoughts with us. Deadline for submissions is Monday, October 10,2022.