The “cloud” still seems to be a thing of mystery to many in the public sector. To help unravel the mystery, MCP created three podcasts, which can be found on our website, SoundCloud, and Spotify.
Exactly one year ago, MCP announced the acquisition of Seattle-based MTG Management Consultants, which today is known as our Justice, Management, and Technology (JMT) services team. This acquisition has generated enormous benefits for our clients and the firm over the past 12 months.
Dutch folklore recounts the story of a little boy who plugs a hole that formed in a dike, using only his finger, to keep his town from flooding — he stays in place through the night despite the cold and becomes a hero. If this story were applied to today’s 911 community, the boy would need to use multiple digits or would need a few of his pals to help out.
For more than a half century, the 911 system in the United States has performed admirably, saving countless lives in the process. But today it needs some work. A migration to Next Generation 911, which represents a quantum leap forward in terms of capabilities compared with the legacy 911 system, is what we hear about most often. But several other key aspects require equally rapt attention.
Recently I participated in a podcast with Laurie Flaherty, the recently retired coordinator of the National 911 Program, and John Chiaramonte, president of Mission Critical Partners' consulting business, in which a few of the most pressing needs were discussed. (Click here to view the podcast, or view it as video here.)
As part of our effort to inform our clients about potential and serious cybersecurity issues, MCP provides advisories about vulnerabilities and exploits that could threaten the operations of their critical communications networks. Sign up to receive these advisories in your inbox as soon as they are released.
It has been a few weeks since Congress reduced the amount of federal funding for Next Generation 911 (NG911) implementations in the Build Back Better Act — also known as the Budget Reconciliation Act —from $10 billion to $470 million. Also included is $20 million for administrative costs associated with the grant program that will disperse the money, $9 million to establish an NG911 cybersecurity center and $1 million for establishing an NG911 advisory board. The House passed this legislation on November 19 and it now goes to the Senate.
There seems to be a considerable amount of handwringing about what slashing NG911 funding by roughly 95 percent means for the future of this vital technology. That’s understandable. NG911 represents a quantum leap forward compared with legacy 911 systems — an apt analogy is that the former is an airplane while the latter is a horse and buggy.
Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon, as well as the hijacking of a third commercial airliner that day, United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers confronted the terrorists. The attacks resulted in 2,977 fatalities and more than 25,000 injuries. It is the deadliest single incident for firefighters and police officers in the U.S., who respectively lost 340 and 72 members that day. It remains the deadliest terrorist attack our history.
A lot of people in the public safety/justice/public sector sectors are talking about cloud-based solutions these days. It is easy to understand why there is so much chatter because solutions that live in the cloud offer some impressive benefits. Here are just a few:
Earlier this year, we ramped up our cybersecurity efforts by launching a series of monthly video chats in which we summarize the most recent threats, share information from entities such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and offer tips for preventing cyberattacks and mitigating them if they occur. This month’s Cyberchat video, which can be viewed below, contains some important information that public-sector and critical infrastructure agencies need to have.
Double-encryption ransomware attacks, which typically include cyberattackers encrypting a target’s data twice, at the same time or shortly after each other, are on the rise. In this month’s video, we explore how agencies can mitigate the risk of a double-encryption attack and begin the rebuilding process if one occurs.
The cost of standing up an emergency services Internet Protocol network (ESInet)—which provides the transport architecture that enables emergency calls to be delivered to Next Generation 911 (NG911) emergency communications centers (ECCs), traditionally known as public safety answering points (PSAPs)—is significant. Consequently, the news out of the nation’s capital of late has been encouraging concerning federal funding that might become available to the public safety community for such implementations and much more.
A previous post touched upon the difficulties that emergency medical service (EMS) agencies experience when trying to bill and then collect payment for the services that they provide. Those difficulties are considerable and have plagued the sector for as long as EMS has existed. Hundreds of millions of dollars go uncollected across the sector each year. For instance, an EMS study for one of MCP's clients wrote off $7 million last year because of an inability to bill for EMS services. That’s a big number.
Many EMS agencies across the United States are in similar circumstances. This makes it much more difficult for agencies to maintain their service-delivery models, pay salaries and benefits, ensure that existing equipment is operational, and upgrade or replace equipment that has reached or is approaching end of life.
Over the last two years, Mission Critical Partners has grown significantly through acquisition, starting with Athena Advanced Networks in 2018, and continuing with Black & Veatch Public Safety and URL Integration last year. Last month, MCP announced its latest acquisition, Seattle-based MTG Management Consultants. The subject-matter experts who are joining MCP will enable us to better serve clients in the public-safety and justice communities by helping them enhance data integration and address their technology challenges.
How can we support your mission? From design and procurement to building and management, our national team of experts is here to help…because the mission matters.
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