National Emergency Communications Plan

The National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) is the nation’s strategic plan to strengthen and enhance emergency communications capabilities. The NECP navigates the complex mission of maintaining and improving emergency communications capabilities for emergency responders and serves as the nation’s roadmap for ensuring emergency communications interoperability at all levels of government. The NECP establishes a shared vision for emergency communications and assists those who plan for, coordinate, invest in, and use operable and interoperable communications for response and recovery operations. This includes traditional emergency responder disciplines and other partners from the whole community that share information during incidents and planned events.

Title XVIII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended, requires that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) develop the NECP to “provide recommendations regarding how the United States should support and promote the ability of emergency response providers and relevant government officials to continue to communicate in the event of disasters and to ensure, accelerate, and attain interoperable emergency communications nationwide.” The law also directs CISA to develop and periodically update the NECP in coordination with federal, state, local, territorial, tribal, and private sector stakeholders.

National Priorities

• Enhance effective governance among partners with a stake in emergency communications, embracing a shared responsibility of the whole community from traditional emergency responders and supporting entities to the citizens served
• Address interoperability challenges posed by rapid technology advancements and increased information sharing, ensuring the most critical information gets to the right people at the right time
• Build resilient and secure emergency communications systems to reduce cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities