Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System

Last week, leaders from the National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators (NCSWIC) met with CISA Emergency Communications Division’s Acting Executive Assistant Director, Brian Bonacci to discuss collaborative efforts to promote seamless public safety communications interoperability across the nation.

NCSWIC is a network of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators (SWICs), representing all 56 states and territories that remain dedicated to empowering emergency responders to communicate effectively during both routine operations and unexpected crises.

Throughout these discussions, the strong partnership between CISA and NCSWIC was reaffirmed, underscoring their mutual commitment to ensuring swift, coordinated responses in disasters, public safety incidents, and emergencies.

This unified approach builds stronger relationships with first responders and state and local collaborators who collectively advance the mission of a safer and more resilient America.

Learn more using the link in the comment section below.

What WILL you do when what you DO experiences a failure?
PACE planning early can help you answer this question.
Primary - Alternate - Contingency - Emergency
The pathways of communication are numerous, each with failure point(s). The telephone lines may be congested due to an increase in activity brought on by a large summer festival, fiber lines can be damaged by digging miles away from your location, extreme weather events can disrupt power supplies.
By having a planned alternate route of communication, exercising those planned alternate routes, and having a backup plan to the backup plan will prepare your agency, mitigating the effects on your end-users and ultimately keeping more people safe.

Members of Iowa's communications unit worked in collaboration with the Loess Hills Cooperative Burn Week partners to meet SCIP goals - to increase COMU personnel and to build and maintain relationships that support interoperability. Iowa's Statewide Communications Interoperability Plan (SCIP) defines objectives to improve emergency communications and support public safety practitioners. Thank you to the Burn Week partners and everyone who supported the large-scale event.

Registration is open for Central States Communications Association

Registration is officially open for the 2026 Central States Communications Exercise!

When: September 22-26,2026
Where: Hot Springs Convention Center, Hot Springs AR

https://central-states-comms.org/events/2026-central-states-communciations-exercise

Come be a part of the largest Public Safety Communications Exercise in the United States!

Hotel block information will be released soon!

On this New Year's Eve, thank you to those involved in the numerous interoperable events in which public safety and public service dedicated their efforts to protecting lives and property. The strategic partnerships, collaborations, and interoperable engagements strengthen the community and create more cohesive and resilient public safety responses. Here is to a bright 2026. Stay Safe and Thank You for all you do for all of us.

Updated key messages for the Late December Blizzard.

Look to ISICS Standard 1.7.0 for the Minimum Programming Requirements for both subscriber radio and agency consoles. By including these resources in all equipment, responders will have the needed interoperable resource at any given event they may respond to in Iowa, no matter the region, if the event is coordinated on the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System.