This year's International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, from March 4 to 8, 2019. Participants can network, as well as learn about communications technologies, products, and policies.
The DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will be there to discuss program impacts, investments and emergency communications. To keep pace with tech advances and evolving threats, DHS wants to hear from you about your requirements so we can get you the tools and techniques you need to save lives. Visit us in booth #715 and at our panels listed below to learn how DHS is investing in solutions to make your mission response operations more safe, secure, and resilient.
Houston Case Study: Integrating Commercial and Public Safety Systems
- Monday, 03/04/2019: 11:45 AM - 12:30 PM
- Room: N261
- Session Number: M124
Description
Today’s first responders face dangerous, evolving threats, and are often equipped with proprietary technologies that restrict their ability to communicate between agencies at the incident scene. Responders need access to advanced, interoperable, plug-and-play technologies that can augment their existing capabilities. In December 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Next Generation First Responder Program (NGFR) partnered with Harris County, Texas, the City of Houston, and local Houston-area public safety agencies to host the NGFR – Harris County Operational Experimentation (OpEx), one of the largest operational technology integration tests to date. Using interoperable solutions and recommended guidelines from the NGFR Integration Handbook, the OpEx revealed how DHS-developed and commercial technologies can integrate with existing public safety systems in a coordinated urban response. Most importantly – the OpEx demonstrates how integrated capabilities can increase operational coordination, enhance operational communications, improve responder safety, and augment situational awareness. Join us as we discuss how industry partners and public safety agencies may implement mission-critical integration requirements for responder technology and how we can prepare to deploy the next generation first responder.
Speakers
Amy Ramon
Fire Chief
Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department, Houston, Texas
Panelist
Colin Rizzo
Emergency Management Coordinator
Port of Houston Authority
Panelist
Rodney Reed
Assistant Chief of Operational Support
Harris County Fire Marshal's Office
Panelist
Sridhar Kowdley
Program Manager
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate
Moderator
Initiatives for LMR/LTE Interworking
- Wednesday, 03/06/2019: 4:15 PM - 5:30 PM
- Room: N261
- Session Number: W44
Description
The availability of a nationwide broadband LTE network is rapidly becoming a reality. As Public Safety and other Critical Communications agencies increasingly make use of priority access to faster data rates, better coverage, and more robust facilities, the option to use LTE for PTT voice becomes compelling. But the adoption of PTT over LTE cannot occur over night; there must be a migration, one agency at a time, and some agencies will continue to primarily rely on LMR long term and hence require interoperability with LTE long term. While many agencies have experimented with non-standard PTT over LTE applications, the industry requires a standard approach for Mission Critical PTT and a standard to seamlessly connect LTE and LMR subscriber units. The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate has invested in two projects to solve the technical challenges to standards-based LMR – LTE Interworking. DHS funded feasibility studies were completed in November 2018 and this presentation provides the results of these studies from the two organizations funded by DHS S&T for the creation of a standards-based solution for LMR – LTE Interworking. The panel will compare and contrast the capabilities of various types of LMR systems (including P25, DMR, analog, legacy trunking) interworked with MCPTT.
Speakers
Chris Kindelspire
LMR to LTE Working Group Chair
NPSTC
Panelist
Denis Gusty
Branch Chief
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science
Panelist
Gary Schluckbier
Managing Director
Murus Cybersecurity, LLC
Panelist
Robin Grier
President
Catalyst Communications Technologies, Inc.
Panelist
Sridhar Kowdley
Program Manager
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate
Moderator
P25 CAP Testing of ISSI/CSSI Equipment
- Thursday, 03/07/2019: 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM
- Room: N261
- Session Number: TH44
Description
DHS S&T and the P25 CAP Advisory Panel has made Inter-RF Subsystem Interface (ISSI) and Console Subsystem Interface (CSSI) testing a priority. Unfortunately, there was no laboratory testing or other type of testing available for these critical interfaces. DHS S&T invested in the development of a conformance test laboratory, a test tool capable of automated testing, and has funded the execution of ISSI/CSSI conformance testing to fill this gap. DHS S&T has also developed a ISSI/CSSI interoperability testing program to help resolve some of the interoperability issues experienced in the field. You are invited to come listen about how the lab was stood up, how the test tool was refined, and how initial field tests went. Come find out what questions were answered and what questions arose from an end user perspective during the field tests. Are they more confident in their systems ability to interoperate with another manufacturer’s system? Are there any standards that are missing or ambiguities that need to be addressed? Attendees can expect to learn about the accreditation process that DOI had to go through as well as what tests were included and not included in the automated test tool. DHS S&T will also share next steps for ISSI/CSSI testing as well as more broadly what the priorities are for the P25 CAP moving forward.
Speakers
Greg Jurrens
Senior Manager – Technical Operations, Communications Services, Public Safety Technology Services
Harris County Central Technology Services
Panelist
Ian Carpenter
President/CEO
Valid8.com, Inc.
Panelist
Russ Sveda
Center Manager, Radio Technical Service Center
U.S. Department of the Interior
Panelist
Sridhar Kowdley
Program Manager
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate
Moderator
HELP IS ON THE WAY ROUNDTABLE: Discover What DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate Can Do for You
- Tuesday, 03/05/2019: 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
- Room: N255
- Session Number: TM2H
Cuong Luu
Program Manager
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate
Adjudicator
Sridhar Kowdley
Program Manager,
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate
Panelist
Video Surveillance - Quality, Analytics, Cybersecurity and Privacy
- Tuesday, 03/05/2019: 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM
- Room: N258
- Session Number: T248
Description
As surveillance technology advances, there are many benefits and concerns about how it is being captured, stored, analyzed and distributed. And many in the public are becoming more concerned about the impact on civil liberties and privacy expectations. Video can be amazingly helpful, as cameras can catch different incidents from various angles, verifying one person’s story and altering another’s into a completely different account. And now that everyone has the ability to record at just about any time and drones can feed real-time video, it has become another key tool for public safety and critical infrastructure. But there is a downside to video as a tool – the files are large, so transmission and storage are both important considerations. The quality varies, especially as a file is transmitted, and the analytics to index videos and pictures are very different from word-based files. In addition, closed-circuit moves to internet-based, cybersecurity is a vital concern. Hear about video quality, analytics, cybersecurity and privacy in this workshop.
Speakers
Cuong Luu
Program Manager
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate
Panelist
Donald Zoufal
Safety and Security Industry Executive
CrowZnest Consulting , Inc.
Moderator
John Contestabile
Program Manager, Emergency Preparedness & Response Systems
Johns Hopkins, Applied Physics Lab
Panelist
Terry Derden
Attorney
Derden Consulting, Chtd.
Panelist
Pushing Smart City Limits: DHS S&T IoT Innovation Partners
- Wednesday, 03/06/2019: 12:00 PM
- Location: Mission Critical Technologies Pavilion
Description
DHS S&T funded a number of programs designed to accelerate the pace of emergency responder technology innovation. Together with private industry and academic partners, the agency is the process of proving out technology that was, until recently, only dreamed about. These sessions will describe the scope of the DHS effort and include partners showcasing mission-critical technology advances that promise safer and more effective operations.
Disaster Planning: The Next-Generation Information-Sharing Environment
- Thursday, 03/07/2019: 10:15 AM - 11:30 AM
- Room: N258
- Session Number: TH13
Description
With increased capabilities of NG and 5G approaching, what does public safety and industry providers need to know today to ensure seamless integration and operations in this new data-rich, cloud-based, hyper-connected era? DHS S&T is preparing for our digital future and working to ensure the interoperability needs of public safety needs are addressed in the face of rapid innovation cycles and evolving threats. Our experiences with recent disasters and emergencies tell us how imperative it is to have real-time information sharing capabilities. With goals of improved decision-making, risk mitigation, and efficiencies, S&T is investing in solutions to enhance seamless information sharing across-jurisdictions and sectors. When you agency needs to push and receive information across operational domains, in real-time, are you equipped with the right tools? Do you know where to turn for best practices? This discussion will highlight outcomes from S&T’s recent operational experimentation at the Port of Houston, where a chemical spill was simulated for cross-jurisdictional emergency response and it will showcase the Information Sharing Assessment Tool, an online, free resource for agencies to self-assess their biggest information sharing barriers as they plan to support seamless information sharing in this new era.
Speakers
Eddie Reyes
Director of the Office of Public Safety Communications
Prince William County, Virginia
Panelist
Ron Langhelm
Program Manager
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate
Panelist
Sridhar Kowdley
Program Manager,
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate
Panelist