The Department of Homeland Security has announced the launch of a survey designed to assess communications interoperability capacity among law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services agencies across the country. The National Interoperability Baseline Survey is being conducted via SAFECOM, the communications program of the DHS Office for Interoperability and Compatibility.

During the month of May, SAFECOM is seeking responses from more than 22,000 randomly selected agencies from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Questions focus on five areas that DHS feels are critical to determining an organization’s capacity for interoperability: governance through administration and decision-making, standard operating procedures, technology, training and exercises, and use of interoperable communications.

SAFECOM also will be asking state homeland security directors to complete a shorter version of the survey to gain insight regarding governance issues at the state level. In addition, SAFECOM officials will conduct approximately 30 site visits in nine regions to gather supplementary qualitative and anecdotal information from the public safety community in order to reinforce the survey findings.

“The National Interoperability Baseline Survey represents a significant milestone for the SAFECOM program and for interoperability improvement efforts nationwide,” said Dr. David Boyd, director of the Office for Interoperability and Compatibility. “It will provide us with a deeper understanding of where we, as a nation, stand in achieving public safety communications interoperability.

"It will help us make better decisions about the steps we should take and the way we should invest resources going forward. It also will provide a benchmark against which to measure the effectiveness of future improvement efforts.”