Membership Of Technical Advisory Board For First Responder Interoperability

Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) Chairman Julius Genachowski appointed the following fourteen persons to serve on Technical Advisory Board for First Responder Interoperability (Interoperability Board):

• Steve Proctor, Executive Director, Utah Communications Agency Network
• Colonel Kenneth C. Hughes, Jr., (Ret), Regional Communications Coordinator, New Orleans Urban Area Security Initiative
• Brian Shepherd, Deputy Director, Adams County (Colorado) Communication Center
• Todd Bianchi, Firefighter Paramedic, Washington, District of Columbia Fire and EMS Department
• Jim Kohler, Deputy Director, Enterprise Technology Services, Alaska Department of Administration, State of Alaska
• Brenda L. Decker, Chief Information Officer, State of Nebraska
• Charles L. K. Robinson, Director, Business Support Services, City of Charlotte, North Carolina
• Bob Azzi, Senior Vice President, Network, Sprint Nextel Corporation
• Diane C. Wesche, Director, Government Network & Technology, Verizon Wireless
• Ed Chao, Senior Vice President, Corporate Engineering and Network Operations, MetroPCS Communications, Inc.
• Ron Strecker, Chief Executive Officer, Panhandle Telephone Cooperative, Inc., and Panhandle Telecommunications Systems, Inc.
• Kenneth C. Budka, Senior Director, Advanced Mission-Critical Communications, Bell Labs Chief Technology Office, Alcatel-Lucent
• Dennis Martinez, Chief Technology Officer, RF Communications Division, Harris Corporation
• Paul Steinberg, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Motorola Solutions

National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has selected Dereck Orr of the National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) to serve as the Interoperability Board’s fifteenth, non-voting member.

The Interoperability Board is charged with developing, in consultation with NTIA, NIST and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Emergency Communications, “recommended minimum technical requirements to ensure a nationwide level of interoperability for the nationwide public safety broadband network.” The Interoperability Board must submit these recommendations to the Commission within ninety days of the date the Act was enacted, i.e., by May 22, 2012.