NIST

Though they're in my own backyard, I only recently got a chance to tour the Public Safety Communications Research laboratories in Boulder, Colo. And now I realize what a big deal they are. PSCR is a joint effort of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. It has been instrumental in performing interoperability research on behalf of the First Responders Network Authority (FirstNet), which is overseen by NTIA and is charged with putting together the National Public Safety Broadband Network.

The board of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) will hold its next meeting on Feb. 12, giving it a chance to respond publicly to a barrage of complaints regarding the board's perceived lack of transparency and responsiveness.

The App Trust Project is a new initiative the Association of Competitive Technology hopes will address growing concerns about the degree of openness or "transparency" developers demonstrate about how consumer data is used. Will this project be worth the effort for developers?

While the National Institute of Standards and Technology is busily testing products for the planned nationwide LTE public-safety network, 21 municipalities will see their 700 MHz public-safety spectrum rights terminated next month by FCC.