Red Grasso of the North Carolina Department of Information Technology has been named chairman of the new Disaster Response and Recovery Working Group of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee within the Federal Communications Commission.
The working group is charged with recommending measures that can be taken to improve the resiliency of broadband infrastructure before a disaster occurs, as well as actions that can be taken to more quickly restore broadband infrastructure following a disaster, the FCC announced in a release. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has also asked the working group to develop best practices for coordination among wireless providers, backhaul providers, and power companies during and after a disaster.
“Broadband communications have become essential to the delivery of life-saving information in a disaster,” Chairman Pai said. “It’s critical to public safety that our broadband networks are as resilient as possible to prevent outages in a disaster and also can be restored as quickly as possible when an outage occurs.”
Grasso is the FirstNet Single Point of Contact for North Carolina and works closely with DIT’s Broadband Infrastructure Office. He is a former career firefighter who now focuses on emergency communications.
“I am honored to chair a group that is looking at how to keep our citizens better connected during times of disasters,” Grasso said. “The ability to connect with loved-ones, emergency services, and up-to-date information has a tremendous impact on limiting the negative effects of a disaster.”