Washington, DC - Apr 21, 2008 - The FCC announced the agenda for its upcoming Summit on the nation's Emergency Alert System (EAS). The summit, called Promoting an Effective Emergency Alert System on the Road to a Next Generation EAS, will be held on May 19, 2008, from 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room TW-C305.

The panel discussions will focus on the current state of the nation's EAS and what is needed to transition to a more robust, next-generation alert and warning system to help ensure accurate and timely information dissemination during emergencies.

The Summit will be open to the public, but admittance will be limited to the seating available. To attend, preregister online at www.fcc.gov/pshs/summits/eas. The deadline to preregister is May 15, 2008. The meeting will be streamed online.

Agenda
9:00 a.m. - Welcome

• Derek Poarch, chief, FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, PSHSB

9:20 a.m. - Opening Remarks

9:40 a.m. - Panel One: Examines the current state of the nation's EAS initiative. Discussions will focus on failure points within the system - breakdowns in the 'daisy chain' - as well as ways to improve testing protocols and heighten awareness to the importance of education and training for broadcasters and other EAS participants.

• Moderator: Tom Beers, chief of the Policy Division, PSHSB Panelists:
• Ann Arnold, chairman, Texas State Emergency Communications Committee (SECC); executive director, Texas Association of Broadcasters
• Dale Gehman, president Gehman Compliance and Consulting
• Steve Johnson, consultant, National Cable and Telecommunications Association
• Mark Manuelian, Primary Entry Point Advisory Committee director; chairman Massachusetts SECC
• C. Patrick Roberts, chairman, Florida SECC; president, Florida Broadcasters Association

11:00 a.m. - Break

11:15 a.m. - Panel Two: Focus on Next Generation Technologies and explore what policies and protocols should be implemented to ensure compatibility between Federal implementation of the Common Alert Protocol (CAP) architecture and state government operations. Panelists will also discuss funding issues and what states are expected to do to ensure that their state, county and local emergency response systems are fully functional in a new system design.

• Moderator: William Lane, chief engineer, PSHSB Panelists:
• Malena Barzilai, senior counsel, Association of Public Television Stations
• Art Botterell, manager, Community Warning System, Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, CA
• Lance Craver, program manager, Integrated Public Alerting and Warning System, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
• Clay Freinwald, chairman, Washington SECC; chairman, Society of Broadcast Engineers EAS Committee
• Suzanne D. Goucher, chairman, Maine SECC; president, Maine Association of Broadcasters
• Mark Paese, director of Operations Division, National Weather Service

12:35 p.m. - Closing Remarks

• Chief Derek Poarch