September is Emergency Preparedness Month. This September that designation has special significance because we mark the tenth anniversary of 911. Of the several ways we here at the Commission will acknowledge that tragic event and recognize the heightened awareness of our safety as a nation and even greater appreciation for our first responders, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and the Office of the Managing Director will showcase public safety and homeland security technologies throughout the month at the recently launched FCC Technology Experience Center.
The Tech Center is an on-site technology lab that provides FCC employees and visitors to FCC headquarters hands-on experience with the latest communications devices and solutions. This month a broad range of state-of-the-art tools available to first responders and homeland security professionals will be exhibited. From a "cell tower in a suitcase" designed to allow first responders and disaster recovery personnel to connect to cell phones by connecting to satellites for voice and data connectivity to some of the most advanced command and control solutions and situational awareness capabilities now available to local and state public safety and homeland security agencies, the exhibition will remind us that the world of public safety and homeland security technology is always changing and that the staff of the Commission plays an active role in bringing these advances to our Nation’s public safety professionals and the people they protect.
Exhibitors during the month represent both small and large companies and include companies such as ITT Intelligence & Information Warfare, T-Mobile®, Motorola Solutions USA, Cassidian Communications, Inc., GlobalStar, Inc., Alcatel-Lucent, GreatCall, Inc., AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., TeleCommunication Systems, Inc., LoKast, OnStar®, Harris Corporation, Layer2, LteWorld, Inmarsat, Inc., and Elster Solutions LLC to name a few. We appreciate their commitment to providing the staff of the FCC this opportunity to see firsthand and better understand the current state and future direction of technology in the public safety and homeland security arena.