“The Internet of Things is Happening: How Will it Affect ECCs” was the title of a panel discussion on Tuesday during APCO 2021 in San Antonio. Based on the discussion the question of how IoT will affect ECCs is very much an open one.
Jeff Pedro, Business Development, FirstNet Embedded IoT programs, described a company called BUSPATROL. When vehicles illegally pass stopped school buses, BUSPATROL cameras record video of the violation. It turns out that school districts receive so much money through traffic fines that the technology costs them nothing to install, Pedro said.
Pedro explained that before FirstNet allows companies to use its name and enter its public safety communications ecosystem they must show they can collect and distribute data useful for first responders. Companies must demonstrate their connectivity and show customer support is more extensive than the typical device.
“We get in depth with our partners – we have their customer care speak with FirstNet customer care so we understand they have the structure in place to fix that problem in the time of emergencies,” Pedro said.
And the companies have to demonstrate they are financially sound enterprises.
BUSPATROL is a FirstNet-vetted product, and it is an example of the IoT. But outside the FirstNet ecosystem is the chaotic world of texting, images, videos, blood sugar monitoring, heart attack warnings – you name it – threatening to burst into ECCs. How will ECCs form coherent pictures from all this data?
Bill Schrier, First Responder Network Authority, outlined work underway at Crisis Technologies Innovation Lab at Indiana University.
“How will the 9-1-1 center handle or triage all this data?” asked Schrier. “Will it become a real-time operations center – not a real-time crime center – but a real-time operations center for all this data flowing from IoT and smart cities?”
Schrier noted that there are models to help coral the information. He pointed to alarm companies that package their data and send it to ECCs in useful formats, and he pointed to the information provided by the app RapidSOS.
Letting in data from the IoT also poses cybersecurity threats because it tends to be easier to hack IoT devices than centralized ECC computer systems. The IoT can bring its infections into the ECC.
Brian Nelson, technology specialist, Rock Island County Illinois 911, pointed to FirstNet solutions that help his agency keep cyberthreats at bay and to recover in the event of attacks. But Nelson expressed concern at ill-considered adoption of data streams from the IoT. He cited a home that was subject to a cyber breach because of an internet-connected fish thermometer. “I hope that agencies protect themselves and buy only certified devices rather than random fish thermometers,” Nelson said.
