FCC Announces Summit on Future of Nation's Emergency Alert System

The Federal Communications Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau) today announced the agenda for its upcoming Summit on the nation's Emergency Alert System (EAS): Promoting an Effective Emergency Alert System on the Road to a Next Generation EAS, to be held on Monday, May 19, 2008.

In line with the Commission's 2007 Second Report and Order on EAS that was released last July, the panel discussions will focus on the current state of the nation's EAS and what is needed to transition to a more robust, Next Generation alert and warning system to help ensure that all citizens receive accurate and timely information during emergencies.

Panel one will examine the current state of the nation's EAS initiative. Discussions will focus on failure points within the system -- breakdowns in the ‘daisy chain' -- as well as ways to improve testing protocols and heighten awareness to the importance of education and training for broadcasters and other EAS participants.

Panel two will focus on Next Generation Technologies and explore what policies and protocols should be implemented to ensure compatibility between Federal implementation of the Common Alert Protocol (CAP) architecture and state government operations. Panelists will also discuss funding issues and what states are expected to do to ensure that their state, county and local emergency response systems are fully functional in a new system design.

The Summit will be open to the public; admittance however will be limited to the seating available. Those individuals who are interested in attending the summit may pre-register online. Those who pre-registered will be asked to provide their name, title, organization affiliation, and contact information. Individuals may also contact Sue Gilgenbach at 202-418-0639 regarding pre-registration. The deadline for pre-registration is Thursday, May 15, 2008. Audio/Video coverage of the meeting will be broadcast live with open captioning over the Internet from the FCC's Web page. The FCC's Web cast is free to the public and does not require pre-registration.