6 U.S.C. § 195 — Office for Interoperability and Compatibility

(a) Clarification of responsibilities. The Director of the Office for Interoperability and Compatibility must: (1) help the Secretary carry out the science and technology parts of the program described in section 194(a)(1)(D), (E), (F), and (G); (2) work with the FCC, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and other federal agencies responsible for standards, to support national voluntary consensus standards for interoperable emergency communications; (3) build a full research, development, testing, and evaluation program to improve interoperable emergency communications; (4) set, together with the Director for Emergency Communications, requirements for interoperable emergency communications capability — using non-proprietary standards where they exist — for public safety radio and data systems and equipment bought with the Department's homeland security funding (this doesn't cover alert-and-warning devices, technology, or systems); (5) carry out the Department's research, development, testing, evaluation, and standards work for the SAFECOM Program; (6) evaluate and test new technology in real-world settings to reach interoperable communications; (7) encourage more efficient use of existing equipment and resources to reach interoperable communications; (8) test public safety communications systems that fail less often, support new non-voice services, use spectrum more efficiently, and cost less than current systems; (9) work with the private sector to develop better emergency communications solutions; and (10) run pilot projects, with the Director for Emergency Communications, to test technologies — including data and video — that help emergency responders and government officials keep communicating during disasters, terrorism, and other man-made emergencies, and that improve interoperable communications overall. (b) Coordination. The Director of the Office for Interoperability and Compatibility must coordinate with the Director for Emergency Communications on the SAFECOM program. (c) Sufficiency of resources. The Secretary must give the Office for Interoperability and Compatibility the resources and staff it needs to do this job.