FCC ACTING CHAIRWOMAN ANNOUNCES COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, RELIABILITY, AND INTEROPERABILITY COUNCIL WILL FOCUS ON 5G NETWORK SECURITY AND SOFTWARE VULNERABILITIES. The Commission will re-establish the Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council with a primary focus on improving 5G network security.. by News Release. OMR OCHJR PSHSB. DOC-371641A1.docx DOC-371641A1.pdf DOC-371641A1.txt
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By this Public Notice, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission), consistent with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA),[1] announces its intent to re-establish the Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC or Council) on or before June 30, 2021. This will be the FCC's eighth charter of CSRIC. The Commission intends to re-establish CSRIC VIII for a period of two (2) years, with an expected first meeting in September of 2021. By this Public Notice, we also seek nominations for membership and a chairperson for the Council.
CSRIC VIII will provide advice and recommendations to the Commission to improve the security, reliability, and interoperability of the nation's communications systems. Among other issues, Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel will ask CSRIC VIII to identify 5G security as a primary focus. In addition, following security breaches that have impacted the communications sector, she will ask CSRIC VIII to review risks to service provider operations from attacks in software and cloud services stacks and to develop mitigation strategies. Finally, in seeking nominations for CSRIC VIII, Acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel will seek to diversify the group's membership to include a broad variety of stakeholders, including representation from the FCC's federal government partners with similar interests.
All organizational or individual members appointed to the Council or its working groups are subject to an ethics review by the Commission's Office of General Counsel. Some applicants possessing expertise or perspectives of interest to the Council, and who have been appointed to serve on the Council in an individual capacity (and not as the representative of a nonprofit organization, corporation, or other entity), are deemed to be Special Government Employees (SGEs). Such individuals are ineligible to serve if they are federally registered lobbyists. SGEs are subject to a variety of restrictions under the conflict of interest statutes, 18 U.S.C. § 203 et seq., and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, 5 C.F.R. Part 2635. SGEs must file confidential employee financial disclosure reports prior to beginning their service and annually thereafter. SGEs will also be subject to ethics restrictions in section 4(b) of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. § 154(b), and in the Commission's rules, 47 CFR Part 19 and 5 CFR Parts 3901 and 3902.
All members will have an initial and continuing obligation to disclose any interests in, or connections to, persons or entities that are, or will be, regulated by or have interests before the Commission. Council members will not be compensated for their service.
Nominations for membership must be submitted to the FCC no later than Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Procedures for submitting nominations are set forth below.
MISSION
The purpose of the Council is to provide recommendations to the FCC regarding ways the FCC can strive for security, reliability, and interoperability of the nation's communications systems. CSRIC VIII's recommendations will focus on a range of public safety- and homeland security-related communications matters, including: (1) the security and reliability of communications systems and infrastructure; (2) 911, Enhanced 911 (E911), and Next Generation 911 (NG911); (3) emergency alerting; and (4) national security/emergency preparedness (NS/EP) communications, including law enforcement access to communications. CSRIC VIII will be organized under, and will operate in accordance with, the provisions of FACA. As authorized by FACA, the Council is authorized to facilitate its work through informal subcommittees, or other subgroups of the Council, which shall report their activities and recommendations to the Council as a whole.
WHO MAY APPLY FOR MEMBERSHIP
The Commission seeks applications from representatives of various sectors of the communications industry, representatives of state and local government agencies and organizations, and representatives of consumers and community organizations that wish to be considered for membership on the CSRIC. The Commission is particularly interested in receiving nominations and expressions of interest from individuals and organizations in the following categories:
· State, tribal, territorial and/or local government agencies and organizations with expertise in communications, public safety, emergency management and/or homeland security matters;
· Federal government agencies with expertise in communications, public safety, emergency management and/or homeland security matters;
· Communications service providers and/or industry organizations representing communications service providers (to include representation by different types of communications provider interests, e.g., wireless, wireless, broadcast radio and television, and by including representation by smaller and rural providers);
· Developers of software applications and operating systems for mobile and desktop computing devices;
· Developers of mobile devices;
· Developers of new technologies;
· Organizations and other entities representing users of communications systems, such as organizations representing the business, finance, energy, education, health care, and similar sectors;
· Consumer or community organizations, such as those representing people with disabilities, the elderly, those living in rural areas, and those representing populations that speak, as their primary language, languages other than English; and
· Qualified representatives of other stakeholders and interested parties with relevant expertise regarding the subject matter.
Members will be selected to balance the expertise and viewpoints that are necessary to effectively address the issues to be considered by the Council.
OBLIGATIONS OF MEMBERS AND COUNCIL MEETINGS
Members will serve at the discretion of Acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel of the FCC. Members will be encouraged to participate in deliberations of at least one (1) informal subcommittee or subgroup, if any are established. The time commitment for participation in any informal subcommittee or other subgroup may be substantial. However, subcommittee or other subgroup meetings may be conducted informally, using suitable technology to facilitate the meetings, subject to oversight by the Designated Federal Officer of CSRIC VIII.
Meetings of the full Council shall be open to the public and timely notice of each meeting shall be published in the Federal Register and shall be further publicized through other appropriate vehicles. All such meetings will be fully accessible to individuals with disabilities.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE, DEADLINE, AND MEMBER APPOINTMENTS
Organizational Applicants
Applications from nonprofit organizations, corporations, or other entities ("organizational applicants") should include the following:
· Name, title, and organization of the nominee and a description of the organization, sector or other interest the nominee will represent;
· Nominee's mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone number;
· A statement summarizing the nominee's qualifications and reasons why the nominee should be appointed to the Council; and
· A statement, if the nominee will represent a specific organization, describing the organization as well as the benefit of having the organization represented on the Council.
For applicants seeking to represent an organization or company, the applicant's nomination to the Council must be accompanied by confirmation on the following two (2) issues:
1. The nomination must be confirmed by an authorized person (e.g., organization or company official) that such organization or company supports the nominated person to represent it on the Council. The nominating official must possess the executive authority or hold a sufficiently high-level position within the organization or company to select a representative whose actions will be legally binding on the organization or company. For example, this confirmation may be in the following format:
"I am [insert official's name], the [insert official's title] at the [insert name of organization - e.g., company, government entity, trade association, etc.], with responsibilities for [concise description of position]. My organization supports [insert proposed member's name], who is currently [an employee of/consultant/attorney to the company], to serve as our representative on the Commission's Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council."
2. For applicants seeking to represent an entity that is, or who are themselves, a party to an FCC contract or subcontract or providing services for the benefit of the FCC under contract or subcontract, the nomination must include the following: 1) a general description of the contract/agreement; 2) a description of the product/services that the applicant provides pursuant to the contract/agreement; 3) a list of all parties to the contract/agreement; 4) the name of the Commission contracting officer (if known); and 5) a certification of the applicant that the applicant has provided written notice to the contracting officer and the FCC Manager, Contracts and Purchasing Center, that the applicant or representative nominee, as applicable, has applied for membership on the Commission's Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council.
Individual Applicants
Applications from individual applicants who would serve as SGEs, as defined above, should include the following:
· Name, title, and organization of the nominee and a description of the interest the nominee will represent;
· Nominee's mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone number;
· A statement summarizing the nominee's qualifications and reasons why the nominee should be appointed to the Council; and
· A statement that the individual applicant is not a registered federal lobbyist (as noted above, financial and other additional disclosures may also apply to individual applicants).
Please note this Public Notice is not intended to be the exclusive method by which the Commission will solicit nominations to identify qualified candidates; however, all candidates for membership on the Council will be subject to the same evaluation criteria.
All nominations, including the requisite statements listed above, should be submitted by e-mail to CSRIC@fcc.gov, and should be received by the Commission as soon as possible, but no later than Tuesday, June 1, 2021.
ACCESSIBLE FORMATS
To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY).
More information about the CSRIC can be found at https://www.fcc.gov/about-fcc/advisory-committees/communications-security-reliability-and-interoperability-council. You may also contact Suzon Cameron, Designated Federal Official (DFO) for CSRIC VIII, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, at (202) 418-1916, or Kurian Jacob, Deputy DFO, at (202) 418-2040, or via the CSRIC e-mail account at CSRIC@fcc.gov.
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