Cross-Sector Communications Responses and Challenges in Times of Crisis

The communications sector is a lifeline during times of crisis, connecting affected communities with emergency services, coordinating response efforts, and facilitating recovery.  

At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s 13th Annual Building Resilience Conference, Frank Shultz, CEO of Infinite Blue, moderated a panel on the unique challenges and opportunities in maintaining robust communication infrastructure before, during, and after disasters. 

Ensuring Robust, Diverse Communication Infrastructure Is Vital 

When faced with natural disasters, man-made incidents, major events with large influxes of people, or other crises, collaboration and communication between cross-sector stakeholders is critical.  

“Part of the commitment [to public safety] means having dedicated emergency response teams coordinating response efforts and working directly with these stakeholders to identify priorities for restoration in the community,” said Nicole Hudnet, industry segment advisor of the emergency response team at T-Mobile.  

“When we need to go into a very remote community to solve problems, we leveraged…a core of skilled volunteers, whether it’s from a supply chain perspective or communications,” added Joe Ruiz, vice president of strategic partnerships at Red Lightning. “We use the superpowers of private sector people who want to give back to use their expertise and skills to go to places…where it’s very difficult for all the relief response organizations to [reach].” 

PACE Planning Can Help Create Necessary Redundancy in Communication Systems 

Communication is vital in times of disaster, connecting people to their loved ones, enabling public safety, and allowing first responders to deliver critical services. It also allows businesses to share information with customers, employees, and other community members. 

Having a PACE (primary, alternate, contingency, emergency) plan in place can ensure necessary redundancy in communication systems. 

Regularly exercising PACE plans can also be “a process for validating the plan that you have and it instills confidence in the users to execute that plan,” explained Hudnet. 

Building Trust Between Public and Private Sectors Is Essential 

A strong and open working relationship between the public and private sectors can help problem-solve and achieve results during crises. Continuous planning, cooperation, and effective communication are the pillars upon which this trust is built. 

Ideally, this trust should already be forged ahead of a crisis when it’s needed most. 

“It's not a technology problem; it’s a prioritization and a leadership question,” said Katharyn White, head of marketing for Google Public Sector. “In other words, when we have a crisis or a moment that brings us together, what we're trying to do is solve [the problem together in] the moment.” 

Government agencies also need to know their private sector partners are willing to listen and work with them. Peter Kim, section chief for the emergency support function at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), mentioned the role of partners like T-Mobile in CISA’s training and response efforts. 

“We're sharing information and building…trust with our industry partners…[about] what their needs are and how the federal government can support their efforts and a response operation,” said Kim. 

“Prioritization is really imperative in an emergency response,” added Hudnet. “Managing a disaster from behind the desk is not easy to do. You need to be in the room with stakeholders…identifying the areas in the community that needed to be restored first and foremost.”