Organization’s Updated Vision and Mission Support Voluntary Solutions for Adopting Advanced Emergency Alerting and Informing Powered by NEXTGEN TV
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2021 – The AWARN Alliance has elected its 2021 Steering Committee, the organization’s governing body that provides guidance to the AWARN Alliance and its executive director. The Alliance also clarified its core education, promotion and collaboration mission, while embracing its vision to “save lives and protect communities by leveraging advanced emergency alerting, news and information powered by ATSC 3.0 NEXTGEN TV.”
For the first time, the membership elected a chair and vice chair for the AWARN Steering Committee, which will help streamline governing activities at the Alliance during what promises to be a busy year ahead:
- John Taylor, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, LG Electronics North America, was elected chair.
- Jim DeChant, Vice President of Technology, News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting Company, was elected vice chair.
In addition to larger companies and organizations on the Steering Committee, 2021 representatives from public television and smaller broadcast companies were re-elected:
- Pete Sockett, Director of Engineering and Operations, Capitol Broadcasting Co – WRAL/WRAZ/WILM, representing smaller broadcasters.
- Tim Bischoff, Chief Technology Officer, Kentucky Educational Television, representing public television.
“Advanced emergency alerting and messaging has been clear use case for ATSC 3.0 from the very beginning. AWARN has positioned the broadcasting and consumer electronics industries to use this powerful new technology for voluntary, cross-industry solutions for addressing some of our country’s most pressing public safety communications needs,” said newly-elected chair Taylor. “Our governance structure has evolved to meet the challenges and opportunities we face, and I’m honored to be serving on the Steering Committee with my esteemed colleagues.”
Newly-elected Vice Chair DeChant said, “News, weather and emergency information are the life-blood of local broadcasting. The AWARN Alliance is the one place where broadcasters and our technology partners can come together with the emergency management community to take emergency messaging to a whole new level. I’m happy to be part of the strong governance team on the Steering Committee.”
2021 AWARN STEERING COMMITTEE
Chair: John Taylor, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, LG Electronics North America
Vice Chair: Jim DeChant, Vice President of Technology, News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting Company
AWARN Executive Director: John Lawson, President of Convergence Services, Inc., which manages the Alliance.
Public Television Representative: Tim Bischoff, Chief Technology Officer, Kentucky Educational Television
Small Broadcaster Representative:
Pete Sockett, Director of Engineering and Operations, Capitol Broadcasting Co – WRAL/WRAZ/WILM
Joe Di Scipio, Senior Vice President, FCC Legal & Business Affairs and Assistant General Counsel, Fox Corporation
So Vang, Vice President of Emerging Technology, ONE Media 3.0
Anne Shelle, Managing Director, Pearl TV
Yoshi Tsurimaki, Producer of Business Development, T-NET Japan
Ex-Officio Advisors:
Madeleine Noland, President, ATSC
Luke Fay, Senior Manager of Technical Standards, Sony
Kelly Willams, Vice President, Engineering and Technology Policy, National Association of Broadcasters
Announcing the election results, AWARN Executive Director John Lawson said, “The AWARN Alliance has a very strong governance team composed of both founding and newer members. We work closely with ATSC and other leading players who are making the powerful technology of NEXTGEN TV a reality. John Taylor and Jim DeChant are two of those industry leaders, and I’m delighted that they have stepped up as our first board officers.”
ATSC President Madeleine Nolan, who serves as an ex officio steering committee member, applauded the AWARN Alliance for “major strides made to date, forging strong connections with the broader emergency management community and educating key stakeholders about the capabilities of advanced emergency messaging powered by ATSC 3.0.” She added, “I am excited about AWARN’s goals as articulated in its ‘Vision and Mission’ statements and look forward to continued close collaboration with the entire AWARN team as we work toward common goals.”
UPDATED VISION AND MISSION
With NEXTGEN TV signals now covering over 22% of U.S. households and projected to cover 75% of U.S. markets by the end of 2021, the AWARN Steering Committee also has adopted an updated “Mission and Vision” statements for 2021 that reflect AWARN’s core goals and values.
AWARN VISION
Save lives and protect communities by leveraging advanced emergency alerting, news and information powered by ATSC 3.0 NEXTGEN TV.
AWARN MISSION
Educate, promote, advocate, and collaborate to support the successful rollout of ATSC 3.0 advanced emergency alerting, news, and information:
- Educate key stakeholders about AWARN vision
- Promote implementation progress
- Advocate for policies that encourage innovation
- Encourage collaboration across the broadcasting and public safety ecosystem
About the AWARN Alliance™
The Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN™) Alliance is an international coalition of commercial and public broadcasters, consumer electronics makers, B2B tech companies, and trade associations that is using the emerging technology of next-generation television (based on ATSC 3.0 standards) to greatly improve public emergency messaging. It is creating a framework of best practices for Advanced Emergency Alerting and Informing that is based on technology innovation, synergistic workflows, and input from diverse community stakeholders.
AWARN Media Contacts
Executive Director John Lawson, jlawson@AWARN.org, (202) 302-1654
Communications Director Anya Shetler, anya@AWARN.org, (347) 683-7077