Wireless RERC News

February 2013— The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Report to Congress in entitled Legal and Regulatory Framework for Next Generation 911 Services, in which the Wireless RERC was cited and referenced throughout the document. In preparation of the report, the FCC issued a Public Notice that sought public comments on the issues related to the legal and regulatory infrastructure needed for the transition from legacy 911 to Next Generation 911 (NG911).

The Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academies hosted a workshop to examine current knowledge and research on geotargeted disaster alerts and warnings on February 21-22, 2013 in Washington, D.C.  The workshop was organized by the Committee on Geotargeted Disaster Alerts and Warnings, which is charged with examining current knowledge and research to improve the effectiveness of alerts and warnings with greater geographical precision.  Helena Mitchell, Wireless RERC Principal Investigator and a member of the committee, moderated the workshop panel, Lessons fro

John Morris, a Wireless RERC research scientist attended the Assistive Technology Industry Association’s 2013 Conference where he participated in the panel “Mobile Apps for People with Disabilities” at the Research Symposium on IDevices, Apps & the Cloud. The conference provided a forum for professional practitioners serving those with disabilities to communicate and participate in educational sessions. There were over 2,000 attendees for the more than 200 educational sessions at the conference, held in Orlando, Florida from January 30 to February 2, 2013.

On February 15, 2013 James Mueller, a Wireless RERC scientist, presented “Getting Wireless: An Introduction to Universal Design and Wireless Technology” to 32 sophomore industrial design students at Virginia Tech.  This is part of the Wireless RERC’s initiative to educate the next generation of wireless technology designers on universal design as a core practice for innovative and future design of products and applications.

The specific objectives of the project are to:

John Morris and Michael Jones of the Wireless RERC published a guide and checklist entitled Emergency Preparedness for People With Disabilities in the February issue of “Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.” The article provides guidelines for individuals with disabilities to follow when developing emergency plans in preparation for emergency situations and includes a checklist of items to include in emergency kits, such as a Ready Kit and a Go Bag.