Instituted this year, the awards recognize innovation and impact, as determined by an independent panel

State College, Pa. (February 29, 2024) — Mission Critical Partners announced the recipients of two awards that the firm instituted this year: the 2023 Most Innovative Project Award and the 2023 Most Impactful Project Award. The award winners were announced at the firm’s 2024 kickoff event, held in January, which was the fourth annual virtual gathering of MCP’s 200 subject-matter experts (SMEs) for strategy and educational sessions.

An independent panel of outside representatives voted on this year’s award nominations submitted by the firm’s SMEs. The award recipients are as follows:

Most Innovative Project Award Winner – 911 DataPath — This award considers a project’s goals; how the goals advanced the client’s mission and resulted in enhanced public-safety or justice outcomes; and, most importantly, the innovative way the goals are being achieved. The 911 DataPath project of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration received this award for 2023.

Large amounts of data are being generated and collected by a plethora of local, regional, state, tribal, and federal entities, but the effort is falling short due to a lack of data uniformity and an inability to share data seamlessly whenever and wherever it is required. In addition, no method exists for holistically measuring the 911 community’s ability to collect and share data. The 911 DataPath project, supported by MCP subject-matter experts, is addressing these shortcomings by collaboratively driving consensus concerning data collection and data sharing across the 911 community.

Most Innovative Project Award Runner-Up – Missouri Department of Transportation — The department sought a way to leverage a wide variety of rich data that it possessed to enhance its decision-making and improve the efficiency of its maintenance operations. MCP SMEs worked collaboratively with department personnel to design, develop, test, and implement the MoDOT Management System (MMS),which is a web-responsive (i.e., scalable for mobile screens), integrated system used today by personnel in the state’s seven districts. A key element of MMS is a visually appealing and easy-to-navigate dashboard that enables officials to drill down on key performance indicators and other metrics in real time.

The project results have been tremendous, to the point that its first phase received the Missouri Governor’s Award for Quality and Productivity, which recognizes service excellence, efficiency, innovation, process improvement, and employee ingenuity. Since implementation, more than 3,000 maintenance personnel have transitioned to MMS, eliminating time-consuming and error-prone legacy paper-based reporting processes, and replacing them with more-efficient electronic processes.

Most Impactful Project Award Winner – Hamblen County (Tennessee) 911 Center — This award considers the degree to which a project has benefitted a client’s stakeholders or its personnel. The Hamblen County (Tennessee) Emergency Communications District (ECD)’s 911 center was suffering from an acute staffing shortage that placed tremendous strain on telecommunicators and supervisors, resulting in a considerable amount of burnout, low morale, and persistent vacancies.

Working collaboratively with ECD leadership, MCP subject-matter experts conducted a comprehensive salary and benefits study. It was determined that substandard compensation was the biggest factor by far in the 911 center’s inability to recruit, hire, and retain personnel. The recommendations that spun out of that assessment resulted in a 21 percent salary increase for entry-level telecommunicators, and significant increases for seasoned telecommunicators, supervisors, and directors. The impact on morale, recruitment, and retention has been startling — further, every full-time position now is filled.

“We’re very proud of everyone associated with these most innovative and impactful projects, which are moving the needle in terms of enhancing public-safety and public-sector outcomes,” said Morgan Sava, MCP’s vice president of marketing. “We’re especially thrilled about the 911 DataPath project, which we believe will have far-reaching implications. The ability to collect and then seamlessly share data will enhance situational awareness and decision-making exponentially.”

About Mission Critical Partners (MCP)
Mission Critical Partners (MCP) is a leading provider of data integration, consulting, network, and cybersecurity solutions specializing in transforming mission-critical communications networks into integrated ecosystems that improve outcomes in the public safety, justice, healthcare, transportation, and utility markets. Our comprehensive experience and vendor-agnostic approach helps us develop modernized solutions for our clients to maximize value and create optimal efficiency while mitigating risk. Additional information and career opportunities are available at www.MissionCriticalPartners.com.