Outreach News - 2/10/2011

1. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is requesting individuals who are interested in serving on the National Advisory Council (NAC) to apply for appointment.

The NAC, an advisory committee, was formed as mandated in the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (PL 109-295), to ensure effective and ongoing coordination of national preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation for natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other man-made disasters. It was established in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

The NAC will have a position open for applications and nominations in the following disciplines: Emergency Management, Emergency Response, Health Scientist, Standard Settings, Infrastructure Protection, Communications, Disabilities, Local Non-Elected Official, Tribal Elected Official, and three appointments which will be selected at the discretion of the FEMA Administrator. The selected members would serve until June 15, 2014. In addition, FEMA seeks applications to fill the remaining term for a Local Elected Official position (to serve until June 15, 2012), a State Non-Elected Official position (to serve until June 15, 2013), and an Administrator’s Selection (to serve until June 15, 2013).

Qualified individuals interested in serving on the NAC are invited to apply for appointment by submitting a resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV). Letters of recommendation may also be provided, but are not required. Applications are accepted on Friday, February 4, 2011 through Friday, March 4, 2011. For more information: http://www.fema.gov/about/nac.

The NAC consists of 35 members, all of whom are experts and leaders in their respective fields. The members of the NAC are appointed by the FEMA Administrator and are composed of federal, state, local, tribal, and private-sector leaders and subject matter experts in law enforcement, fire, emergency medical services, hospital, public works, emergency management, state and local governments, public health, emergency response, standard settings and accrediting organizations, representatives of individuals with disabilities, infrastructure protection, cyber security, communications, and homeland security communities.

Members serve without compensation from the federal government; however, consistent with the charter, members receive travel reimbursement and per diem under applicable federal travel regulations. Registered lobbyists, current FEMA employees, Disaster Assistance Employees, FEMA Contractors, and potential FEMA Contractors will not be considered for NAC Membership.

Please contact FEMA’s Legislative Affairs Division at 202-646-4500 with any questions.

JAIME COOK
Legislative Affairs Division
Office of External Affairs
Federal Emergency Management Agency
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
500 C Street SW
Washington, DC 20472
202.646.4500, office
202.646.3600, fax

2. A new standardization effort is beginning in the IETF. The effort aims to define protocols that enable database access for devices using so called "white space". White space generally means the licensed incumbent(s) in a particular piece of spectrum are not fully using the spectrum and the Regulator decides that sharing of spectrum on an unlicensed, secondary basis is possible. An example is in the US where the FCC is allowing unlicensed use of the digital TV band with a requirement that the unlicensed users consult a database that informs them which channels they may use, given the location of the antenna of the new unlicensed device.

Many other Regulators globally are looking at this kind of dynamic spectrum sharing, and also contemplating using similar database query mechanisms as part of the mechanism to avoid interference. A protocol for database access that is not tied to any particular radio, any particular frequency band, or any particular country is desirable to enable global use.

An email list has been created for this effort, "paws" - Protocol for Accessing White Space database. The email list is paws@ietf.org, and you can subscribe by visiting https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/paws

3. FCC TO HOLD BROADBAND ACCELERATION CONFERENCE. (DA No. 11-241) Reducing Regulatory Barriers to Spur Broadband Buildout.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-11-241A1.doc
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-11-241A1.pdf
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-11-241A1.txt