June 6, 2024
Washington DC

Wireless
Tech and Policy Summit

National Housing Center
Washington, DC

Bringing together Industry Tech Leaders and Policy Leaders to talk about the opportunities and challenges found at the intersection of wireless policy and wireless technology.

Outstanding Networking and Educational Sessions!

Breakfast and Keynote Sponsor

Attend

The Safer Buildings Coalition In-Building Wireless Tech & Policy Summit explores how wireless policy drives tech innovation, and how advances in wireless technology can propel wireless policy.

Where

National Housing Center
1201 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005

When

Thursday, June 6th ·
8:00am - 6:00pm EDT

Early Bird Pricing available until NOON May 1st - SAVE 25%

Buy Tickets

Have A Look At The

AGENDA

Exhibit Hall Open 8am to 6pm

Morning

8a to 12p

08:00 AM to 09:00 AM

Networking Breakfast in Exhibit Hall

Outstanding Networking and demonstrations in the Exhibit Hall. Breakfast Foods, Coffee and other Beverages provided.
Speaker: Jeff Hall - Wireless Supply

09:00 AM

Opening Remarks

Speaker: Chief Alan Perdue

09:05 AM

Fireside Chat with Jim Bugel - President, FirstNet and Public Safety, AT&T

Moderator: Seth Buechley, SBC Founder / President, Cathedral Consulting
Jim Bugel is Vice President, FirstNet Program for AT&T. Based in Washington, D.C., Mr. Bugel oversees AT&T’s strategy and policy for all state, local and federal public safety initiatives including FirstNet implementation and the FirstNet Response Operations Group. With over 25 years of experience in the wireless and wired telecommunications industry, Mr. Bugel has a significant background in public safety, national security, cybersecurity and emergency preparedness. He joined AT&T from Cingular Wireless and has also held leadership roles at BellSouth and GTE.

9:30 AM to 9:40 AM

Keynote: Lori Alhadeff - Co-Founder, Make Our Schools Safe

MAKE OUR SCHOOLS SAFE was founded by the Alhadeff Family, who lost their beautiful 14-year old daughter, Alyssa, to the brutal shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Valentine’s Day 2018. In their grief, Lori and Ilan Alhadeff founded MAKE OUR SCHOOLS SAFE (MOSS) so that no other parent has to endure the pain they live with.

One of the key initiatives of MOSS is advocacy for Alyssa's Law. Alyssa’s Law is critical legislation addressing the issue of law enforcement response time when a life-threatening emergency occurs because time equals life. The law calls for the installation of silent panic alarms that are directly linked to law enforcement, so in case of any emergency they will get on the scene as quickly as possible, take down a threat and triage any victims. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ALYSSA'S LAW.

9:40 AM to 10:30 AM

School Safety and the Critical Role of Wireless Connectivity

While it is the role of many to find every solution that could make our schools safer, it is the role of the Safer Buildings Coalition and the wireless ecosystem to examine how public safety communications failures have been a factor in mass-casualty incidents, and how we must work to improve or eliminate such problems wherever possible. This session explores state and federal legislation (such as ALYSSA'S LAW) that offer help to schools to ensure that critical communications are always available inside school buildings during emergencies.

Moderator: Eric Toenjes - Past President, Safer Buildings Coalition / Wireless Solutions - Graybar
Tim Hay – Executive Director, Florida Dept. of Education, Office of Safe Schools
John Chiaramonte - President & Consulting Services, Mission Critical Partners
Chief Alan Perdue - Executive Director, Safer Buildings Coalition

10:30a to 11:00a

AM Break in Exhibit Hall

Outstanding Networking and demonstrations in the Exhibit Hall. Snacks and Beverages provided

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Emergency Responder Communication Enhancement Systems (ERCES) Tech and Policy Urgently in Need of Improvement

ERCES have an essential role in solving for the in-building wireless dead zones that hamper public safety communications. While the rapid growth of ERCES deployments across the country are helping to solve this problem, there are growing pains, leaving some asking: “is the cure worse than the initial problem?” This session examines the current state of ERCES tech and policy and discusses what changes to both are urgently needed.

Moderator: Alan Perdue - Executive Director - Safer Buildings Coalition
Tracy "Mac" McElvaney - Principal Associate Director -FirstNet Built with AT&T
Manuel Ojeda - CTO, Morcom International, Inc.
Others TBA

Afternoon

12p to 6p

Meet 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

Networking Lunch Break in Exhibit Hall

Outstanding Networking and demonstrations in the Exhibit Hall. Lunch options and Beverages provided

1:00 PM to 2:00 PM

EXECUTIVE SESSION: A View from the Top: In-Building Wireless

Moderated by Urgent Communications Senior Editor Donny Jackson, this panel of sector executive thought leaders explore and comment on the current state and future outlook of the wireless sector, with special insights on In-Building Wireless Connectivity. Confirmed so far:

Moderator: Donny Jackson - Senior Editor of Informa - Urgent Communications
Preston Marshall - Director of Wireless Standards and Policy at Google - Chairman, OnGo (CBRS) Alliance - CoChair of Spectrum Sharing Committee at Winnforum
Patrick Halley - President and Chief Executive Officer, Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA)
Dick Mirgon – PSBTA
Others TBA

2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

9-1-1 Inside: A Call to Action

The FCC estimates that a one-minute improvement in 9-1-1 response time would save 10,000 lives in the US. in a phrase: Time is Life. At our 2024 Member's Meeting and Dinner at IWCE in March, SBC Founder Seth Buechley announced a bold Safer Buildings Coalition Call to Action: Setting the expectation that calls and texts to emergency services initiated from inside buildings should always get through, with clarity and accurate location. We have adopted the rallying cry: 9-1-1 Inside.

Moderator: Seth Buechley, SBC Founder and Cathedral Consulting CEO
Mark Fletcher - VP Public Safety, 911 Inform
Heather McGaffin - Director, DC Office of Unified Communications
Mark Ryckman - City Manager, City of Corning NY
Jeff Johnson – President – Western Fire Chiefs

3:00 PM to 3:25 PM

PM Break in Exhibit Hall

Outstanding Networking and demonstrations in the Exhibit Hall. Snacks and Beverages provided

3:30 PM to 3:50 PM

Keynote: FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez

Commissioner Gomez is committed to ensuring we have a vibrant, strong, competitive telecommunications and media marketplace that promotes U.S. economic prosperity and security while also meeting the needs of all consumers. There is much work to be done to ensure that every person in every community, regardless of geography or income, has access to high-speed broadband. She has experienced the fear of not being able to afford a telephone bill and knows what it means to risk the loss of connection. Ensuring that everyone in rural, Tribal, suburban, and urban communities can get and stay connected is critical to next-century success for us all. As a Latina American, she brings her perspective to the Commission on ways to address the needs of all communities—including the Latino community.

4:00 PM to 4:50 PM

Building the Wireless Workforce

SBC estimates that there are more than one-million commercial buildings in the US that have inadequate in-building wireless coverage for cellular or public safety communications (or both). If we were to deploy in-building wireless infrastructure inside 10,000 buildings per year, it would still take us 100 years to address this lack of coverage. Simply put: The current wireless workforce, and the technology available to them, cannot scale to the challenge of eliminating in-building wireless dead zones. This panel explores training, certification, apprenticeship programs, and the gaps in competency, policy, and funding that must be solved. Confirmed so far:

Cesar Ruiz – President and CEO, Learning Alliance Corporation
Nathan Leamer – CEO, Fixed Gear Strategies, NATE Government Relations Team
Ted Norman - Former State Director of Apprenticeship (Florida), and current Business Implementation Manger at Public Consulting Group (PCG)
Representative - US Department of Labor (TBA)
Others TBA

4:50 PM to 5:00 PM

Closing Remarks

Speaker: John Foley

5:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Closing Networking Reception in Exhibit Hall

Outstanding Networking and demonstrations in the Exhibit Hall. Food, Beverages, provided - with adult beverages available

6:00

Adjourn

These Are

Our Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Anna Gomez
FCC Commissioner

Jim Bugel
President, FirstNet and Public Safety, AT&T

Lori Alhadeff
Co-Founder, Make Our Schools Safe

Speakers (More to be announced)

Preston Marshall - Director of Wireless Standards and Policy at Google - Chairman, OnGo (CBRS) Alliance - CoChair of Spectrum Sharing Committee at Winnforum
Patrick Halley - President and Chief Executive Officer, Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA)
Jeff Johnson - Executive Director, Western Fire Chiefs / Former Vice-Chair, FirstNet
Steve Devine – Chief Technology Officer - APCO
Tim Hay - Executive Director, Office of Safe Schools, Florida Department of Education
John Chiaramonte - President, Consulting Services, Mission Critical Partners
Manuel Ojeda - CTO, Morcom International, Inc.
Mark Ryckman - City Manager, City of Corning NY
Nathan Leamer – CEO, Fixed Gear Strategies, NATE Government Relations Team
Ted Norman - former State Director of Apprenticeship (Florida), and current Business Implementation Manager at Public Consulting Group (PCG)
Heather McGaffin - Director, DC Office of Unified Communications
Mark Fletcher - VP Public Safety, 911 Inform
Richard Mirgon - Public Safety Broadband Technology Association
Tracy McElvaney - Principal Associate Director -FirstNet Built with AT&T
Cesar Ruiz – President and CEO, Learning Alliance Corporation
Donny Jackson - Senior Editor, IWCE Urgent Communications
Eric Toenjes - Past President, Safer Buildings Coalition / Wireless Market Manager, Graybar
Chief Alan Perdue - Executive Director, Safer Buildings Coalition / Co-Author, Complete ERCES Handbook
Seth Buechley - President / CEO, Cathedral Consulting / Founder, Safer Buildings Coalition
John Foley - Managing Director, Safer Buildings Coalition / Co-Author, Complete ERCES Handbook

Click Here to see speaker Bios and Sessions

Housing

HOTEL BLOCK REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Special Rates available to Summit Attendees

Safer Buildings Coalition is pleased to announce that we have secured a special rate at two hotels near the venue for our 2024 Wireless Tech & Policy Summit: Washington, DC's National Housing Center (NHC).

DETAILS

A select number of rooms have been held at both hotels for Wednesday, June 5^th and Thursday, June 6^th
Special SBC online rate reservations is live and can be made by clicking on the respective hotel booking links below
- After the respective hotel cut-off date(s) in early May, reservations made will be based on a space and current rate available basis at the respective hotel
- Special room rate does not include the 15.95% taxes/fees
- All reservations must be secured with your individual credit card
- Individual reservations fully refundable up to 48 hours of check-in date or forfeit one night's booking rate and tax
- Parking at either hotel is $54/night + 18% tax
- All special rate reservations are eligible for points using your applicable hotel affinity card

Homewood Suites by Hilton Downtown DC
1475 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: (202) 265-8000
(3-min. walk to the NHC)
Rate: $289/night (single occupancy)
Must book by Monday, May 6th

Book Homewood Suites

Residence Inn Washington DC Downtown
1199 Vermont Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20005-3519
Tel: (202) 898-1100
(5-min. walk to the NHC)
Rate: $349/night (Studio, single occupancy)
Must book by Wednesday, May 10^th