Des Plaines, IL (June 17, 2016) — URISA is pleased to announce it has joined the NG911 NOW Coalition and its other partner organizations around a unified goal of deploying Next Generation 911 (NG911) services by the end of 2020. NG911 is a nationwide, standards-based, all-IP emergency communications infrastructure enabling voice and multimedia communications between a 9-1-1 caller and a 911 center (known as "Public Safety Answering Points" or PSAPs) and on to responders in the field.

When deployed, 911 centers will have enhanced tools at their disposal for more effective and efficient response, and increased ability to interoperate with other PSAPs or transfer all functionality in the event of a major disaster. Accurate geospatial data that crosses jurisdictional boundaries is essential to this effort. URISA recognizes the growing importance of the GIS community in supporting NG911 implementation. This recognition recently led URISA to form the URISA NextGen911 Task Force to educate and support GIS professionals in their work on NextGen 911 .

Joining the NG911 NOW Coalition as its first "Partners" are five organizations that recognize the importance of NG911 in enhancing the nation's 911 systems to create a faster, more flexible, resilient, and scalable system that will allow 911 to keep pace with continued advancements in technology. They are:

• The National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) and the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), two organizations committed to the advancement and use of geographic information systems (GIS), will help the Coalition drive the advancement of GIS initiatives, which are important to leveraging the full benefits of NG911.
• The Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center (ITEC), a center within the Academy for Advanced Telecommunications and Learning Technologies at Texas A&M University, will provide valuable technical expertise to the Coalition on NG911 and other IP-based technologies.
• The 911 Education Foundation (9EF), a research subsidiary of iCERT focused on emergency response support to public safety stakeholders, and the NG911 Institute, a not-for-profit organization that serves as an educational resource for the Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus, will help the Coalition to raise awareness of NG911 issues and educate policymakers and affected stakeholders on the benefits of accelerating NG911 deployment.

Coalition charter members include the National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA), the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), and the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

For more information about the Coalition, visit http://www.ng911now.org/  

Attachment: URISA, The GIS Professional, March/April 2016 Issue, "Deadline Set for NextGen911 Upgrade and How that Impacts the GIS Community"

Contacts:

Wendy Nelson 
Executive Director - URISA 
Email Contact  
www.urisa.org   
847-824-6300

  @URISA

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