Merging public safety communications and tech

Moderated by Thomas Randall, First Net Authority


The 2018 Tech Titans Corporate Innovation Award Winner, FirstNet mission is to deploy, operate, maintain, and improve the first high-speed, nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety. This reliable, highly secure, interoperable, and innovative public safety communications platform will bring 21st century tools to public safety agencies and first responders, allowing them to get more information quickly and helping them to make faster and better decisions. This panel will focus on how this technology is being utilized by app developers to support first responders and how public safety officials in both the public and private sector are using it to stay connected. 

More about our speakers:

Thomas Randall, FirstNet Authority
Thomas (“Tom”) Randall is a senior public safety advisor for the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority), serving public safety stakeholders in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Prior to joining the FirstNet Authority, Tom spent his career in law enforcement, serving the Brazos and Burleson County Sheriff’s Offices in Texas for more than 35 years. As a Special Services Lieutenant with the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office, Tom was responsible for implementing in-vehicle technology, including digital video, wearable body cameras, and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and records management system (RMS) integration.
Following his retirement from the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office in 2016, Tom joined the outreach and education team of the Texas Public Safety Broadband Program and served on the program’s Rural Strategic Advisory Group and State Plan Review Team.

Ely Reyes, Chief of Police, Cedar Hill Police Department
After serving in the US Army, Reyes began his law enforcement career with the Austin Police Department in 1996. He worked his way through the ranks of the department and retired as an Assistant Chief of Police in Austin. He was appointed Chief of Police of the Cedar Hill Police Department in 2019.
He believes strongly in continuing education and has earned both his Bachelor and Master’s Degrees from Texas State University while working full time as a police officer and raising a family. He is also a graduate of the Certified Public Manager Program, the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT) Leadership Command College and the Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP) at Boston University. He has numerous awards and commendations including the Purple Heart, Lifesaving Medal, 3 Meritorious Service Medals, 3 Meritorious Unit Medals, 3 Superior Service Medals and the Honorable Conduct Citation.

Dan Hight, VP Business Development and Partnerships, NextNav
Dan leads efforts to build sustainable partnerships, leveraging NextNav’s next generation location infrastructure and service for public safety and first responders, consumer applications, gaming, AdTech/MarTech and IOT solutions. Prior to NextNav, Dan Hight was an executive at mobile location platform GroundTruth and advisor to media companies, technology platforms and associations. A location media veteran, Hight has created strategic partnerships for the past 20 years.

Jon Bodie, Emergency Management Director, Frisco ISD
Jon has been in Emergency Management since 2007. He joined the Frisco ISD in 2018, when he was credentialed as a Texas Emergency Manager. He became the Emergency Management Director at Frisco Independent School District in 2020. 
Jon’s ensures life safety and property preservation actions taken on behalf of the 3rd largest school district in the Dallas-Ft. Worth. The district has 8,200 employees and 66,080 students attending 12 high schools, 17 middle schools and 43 elementary schools located in the municipal jurisdictions of Frisco, McKinney, Plano and Little Elm, Texas.

Kaitlyn Cross, Director of Business Community, Tenet Healthcare
Kaitlyn is an experienced emergency management professional with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & health care industry.  She joined Tenet in 2018 as the Manager, Emergency management and Business Community, Corporate Security Department. Prior to coming to Tenet, Kaitlyn was a Medical Incident Support Team Leader with the Texas Emergency Medical Task Force.
Her skills include program development, regulatory compliance, grant management, business continuity, emergency management, disaster response, project management and technical writing.

Your registration data may be provided to sponsors of this event.