Using tools already in use in both the federal and private sectors, NCORP has helped form a collaboration of public/private partners (see OSMOS) to deploy a user-defined, trusted and secure community gateway, called the Essential Public Network, that facilitates mobility and transportability, that is redundant, provides asymmetric connectivity with synchronized awareness, and creates an active global directory of users (see NSCAN), regulated by access rules of privilege and durational permissions to share unrestricted, restricted and law enforcement-sensitive information.

By year's end of 2006, a beta-network will be built from 'best practice' technology through a collaboration with RAINS, ESP Group, NJTTF, NCORP and others, as the first step in creating 5 pilot projects through the ReadyCommunity Partnership to 1) test-drive asymmetric connectivity to create synchronized awareness; 2) get feedback and suggestions on the functionality, services and content that should be included in the EPN; and 3) get user buy-in so that it's useful, practical, helpful and meets the goal of sharing but protecting restricted and law enforcement-sensitive information.

Immediate Steps: 1. Divide the Open Standard Municipal Operating System Committee into six functional subcommittees to develop the protocols, capabilities and functionality required to support, develop, maintain and regulate the EPN:

a) Active Global Directory
b) Mobility, Transportability, Interoperability and Transferability
c) Security & Trust
d) Synchronized Awareness
e) Content and Exchange Functionality (RSS & news feeds, alerts, links, blogs, etc.)
f) Legal, Subscriptions, Operations