Case Study: Palm Beach County Expansion and Interoperability of Network Services

Needs Assessment, Procurement and Implementation Assistance for Systems to Support All City Public Safety Agencies

 

The Client

Palm Beach County, Florida. Palm Beach County is one of the largest counties east of the Mississippi and contains a number of large cities and small towns. Many of these local governments and state and special authority network services users were eager to develop an interface with the County’s network to share central applications such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS). 

 

The Project

Palm Beach County retained RCC to analyze issues related to network expansion and local government interoperability, and for RCC to make public policy recommendations.

 

RCC's Role

RCC provided many important services for Palm Beach County during this project, including:

 

• Reviewed and assessed all relevant issues associated with an expansion of the County’s network and access to intra-county government agencies. (Covered the spectrum from regulatory matters to the financial costs of expansion.)
• Reviewed Federal and State regulatory issues.
• Reviewed the County’s Information System Services Department (ISS) infrastructure.
• Provided information documenting the benefits of network expansion and potential concerns such as data access and network security.
• Conducted financial analyses.
• Recommended a financial model designed to recoup the expansion costs and on-going fiscal support for users. 
• Recommended policy development relative to County government network expansion to include local agencies.
• Operated with sensitivity to local political realities and provided a methodology to ensure that other participating governments paid the relevant costs of connectivity.
• Performed an in-depth analysis of a network carrier’s unsolicited proposal for services rendered to the County.