Elevating the Importance of the SWIC and SIGBs

Author: National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators (NCSWIC) Governance Committee

In 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) established a short-term Statewide Governance and Planning Integrated Project Team (IPT) to identify the most significant barriers to statewide governance and planning, and create a plan to transform OEC’s products and services to support states in addressing these challenges. One sub-group to the IPT focused on promoting governance and the role of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators (SWICs) and Statewide Interoperability Governing Boards (SIGBs), thus elevating their importance within state government, optimizing resources, and leveraging strategic relationships to further emergency communications interoperability statewide.

OEC staff and members of the NCSWIC participated on the IPT to discuss challenges and develop documents to aid SWICs with promoting the critical importance of their role and statewide governance structures. Following the conclusion of the IPT, two developed documents were transitioned to the NCSWIC Governance Committee for updates and final approval.

The first document is a fact sheet highlighting best practices when discussing the roles of the SWIC and statewide governance bodies. The Messaging the Importance of Governance fact sheet is meant to provide guidance on educating various audiences and includes key talking points.

The IPT also developed an Interoperability Elevator Pitch designed to be a quick hit spoken message on interoperability. It provides a brief overview on the importance of interoperability issues, OEC, SWICs, and SIGBs.

These documents are available to the SWIC community to utilize when promoting their role or the need for strong governance bodies within their states. Questions on these documents should be directed to NCSWICGovernance@hq.dhs.gov.