A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report reckons that the government could realize from $106 billion to $208 billion of benefits and savings if Federal government agencies took action on about four percent of the watchdog agency’s still-unimplemented recommendations. […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified two significant tech-related ways to potentially save taxpayers billions of dollars in its 14th annual report that aims to identify overlap, duplication, and fragmentation across the Federal government. […]

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has issued a Federal Register Notice to find people interested in serving on the board of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority Board). […]

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has named Richard Carrizzo board chair of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), which operates as an independent authority within the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and provides wireless network services to first responders. […]

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) has named Joseph Wassel executive director, which the organization regards as the equivalent of its chief executive officer. […]

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) is on the search for a chief executive officer (CEO) to take on the challenge of shaping the technology and reinvestment strategy for FirstNet, the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN). […]

At an event marking the 10th anniversary of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Jessica Rosenworcel proposed a plan for the Federal government to move forward on the next generation of 911 services. […]

FirstNet Authority Board Chair Tip Osterthaler selected Richard Carrizzo to lead as vice chair of the board effective yesterday. […]

Both the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Commerce are progressing ahead on rural broadband agency priority goals (APG) as a part of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) with some help from emergency funds in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. […]

While AT&T is on track to meet all nationwide First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) milestones, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) this week flagged schedule, communication, and end-user satisfaction management issues that it said could stop the program from reaching its full potential. […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), along with the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), on Oct. 24 launched their Accelerate R2 Network Challenge. […]

The Commerce Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) took the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) to task in a July 22 report that finds “control weaknesses” in FirstNet’s handling of a $336 million payment it made to its contractor AT&T. Separately, FirstNet said it has taken action to resolve the issue. […]

The Department of Justice (DoJ) has awarded a 15-year, $984 million task order on the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract to AT&T, the company announced in a July 29 press release. […]

Federal CIO Suzette Kent met with members of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) today to discuss strengthening the partnerships between Federal and state governments. […]

When the Big One hits, the United States won’t be ready for it. […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on Monday released NISTIR 8196, its draft report on the cybersecurity of mobile devices and wearables for first responders, and is seeking comment on the draft until January 7. […]

The budding emergence of fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks is being preceded by the usual advance guard of hype that comes with any new stage of wireless development. But while some of the promises being thrown around by service providers won’t take shape for several years, if at all, 5G will provide tangible benefits that government agencies could start planning for now. […]

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and FirstNet today announced new personnel changes. […]

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), a Federal government entity within the Department of Commerce that is working with AT&T to build out a nationwide broadband communications network for first responders, said today that Sue Swenson is stepping down as chair of the FirstNet board, and Jeffrey Johnson is resigning as vice chair. […]

FirstNet released its Tribal Consultation Policy, which outlines the consultation process FirstNet will use with tribal nations regarding the deployment of the nationwide public safety broadband network. The new policy will give tribes an avenue to express their public safety needs through a nation-to-nation relationship between FirstNet and the 567 Federally recognized tribes, according to a FirstNet release. […]

The FirstNet national communications network for first responders still faces challenges to ensure the network’s reliability, security, and interoperability. Mark Goldstein, director of physical infrastructure issues at the Government Accountability Office, said that FirstNet struggles with providing network coverage to rural and hard-to-reach areas, ensuring the network’s overall resiliency and cybersecurity, managing frameworks for verifying user identity, and prioritizing the users on the network. […]

The Federal Communications Commission on Sept. 15 released the standards with which it will determine whether state broadband networks are interoperable with the National Public Safety Broadband Network. The FCC plans to assess states’ requests to opt out of FirstNet and use their own networks instead, through a two-pronged review system. […]

State and Federal representatives testified to the need for a first responder-only network and offered their support of FirstNet’s efforts during a recent Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing. […]

Several states have started weighing alternative plans to the First Responder Network Authority’s initial outlines to create and operate a broadband network that supports first responder groups. Here’s what Arizona, Colorado, and New Hampshire are considering. […]

As of June 28, the First Responder Network Authority team has met with 24 states to discuss the nationwide high-speed data network for first responders that the agency plans deploy over a 25-year contract with AT&T. […]

The First Responder Network Authority announced March 30 that it has selected AT&T to build and manage the nation’s first broadband network dedicated solely to first responder groups. […]

The First Responder Network Authority recently opened a new laboratory at its headquarters in Boulder, Colo. […]

States are beginning to feel neglected in the creation process of FirstNet, a broadband network intended to provide wireless communication for first responders, according to witnesses at the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet hearing. […]