Tag: President Trump

Executive Order requires resilience of critical PNT infrastructure
On Feb. 12, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order establishing a comprehensive national policy to promote the responsible use of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services by the federal government.

The order directs federal agencies to take steps to reduce disruption of critical infrastructure that relies on PNT, including GPS. It also directs critical infrastructure owners and operators to strengthen their systems’ resilience.

Markets affected include including the electrical power grid, communications infrastructure and mobile devices, all modes of transportation, precision agriculture, weather forecasting and emergency response.

The federal government will engage both the public and private sectors to identify and promote responsible use of PNT services, with the goal of ensuring that “critical infrastructure can withstand disruption or manipulation of PNT services.”

“Because of the widespread adoption of PNT services, the disruption or manipulation of these services has the potential to adversely affect the national and economic security of the United States,” the order states. “To strengthen national resilience, the Federal Government must foster the responsible use of PNT services by critical infrastructure owners and operators,” the order reads.

PNT Profiles

The Commerce Department is tasked with developing PNT profiles, due a year from today, for PNT-dependent systems, networks and assets. The profiles will be developed through consultation with the private sector.

The profiles will also:
- identify appropriate PNT services;
- detect the disruption and manipulation of PNT services; and
- manage the associated risks to the systems, networks and assets dependent on PNT services.
The profiles will be reviewed and updated every two years.

Reaction to the Order

Reacting to the Executive Order on PNT, J. David Grossman, executive director of the GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA), stated:

“The GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA) welcomes today’s Executive Order recognizing the critical economic and societal benefits of GPS and other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Resiliency is among the core attributes that have made GPS the gold standard for delivering positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) functions to our military as well as a wide range of other sectors, including transportation, agriculture, electricity, and finance. Today’s Executive Order represents a crucial next step in ongoing efforts to maintain the security, robustness, and redundancy of PNT capabilities, including GPS, that millions of Americans rely on every day. GPSIA looks forward to working with key government stakeholders to support the implementation of this effort.”

The Department of Transportation stated,

“Our challenge is to enable increased resilience across our transportation systems and ensure the traveling public and freight transporters experience an increased level of safety and efficiency without the possibility of interference caused by loss or manipulation of PNT.

Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad F. Wolf said,

“From mobile phone applications to automobile navigation, our digital, interconnected society is dependent every day on PNT services.That is why it’s critically important that PNT services remain properly functioning as a major component of the nation’s critical infrastructure. By adopting responsible use of PNT services, the federal government and owners and operators of critical infrastructure can contribute meaningfully to national resilience and ensure the continuous, uninterrupted delivery of services to the nation.”

Photo: adamkaz/E+/Getty Images
February 12, 2020
GPS to get terrestrial backup system
On Dec. 4, President Trump signed the Frank LoBiondo U.S. Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018. Included in that bill was the National Timing Security and Resilience Act of 2018.

The act tasks the Secretary of Transportation with establishing a terrestrial backup timing system for GPS within two years.

Further, the bill ensures the availability of uncorrupted and non-degraded timing signals for military and civilian users in the event that GPS signals are corrupted, degraded, unreliable, or otherwise unavailable.

The law requires that, to the maximum extent possible, the backup system be:
- terrestrial
- wireless
- synchronized to UTC
- difficult to disrupt
- able to penetrate underground and inside buildings
- capable of deployment to remote locations
- expandable to provide position, navigation and timing (PNT), and
- able to work in concert with similar systems such as eLoran.
It also has provisions for the government to be able to establish the system through a commercial entity should it elect to do so. In such a case, it establishes several provisions that such a contract must meet.

Image: @SENTEDCRUZ

Timing a critical area. Timing has been an area of increasing focus and concern for both industry and government.

The U.S. Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), the standards body for the wireless industry, has cited GPS timing as a point of failure for wireless systems. Last year ATIS wrote to key senators, encouraging them to establish an eLoran system to provide a second and much more resilient timing source for America.

In 2015 and 2016, the U.S. National Institutes of Standards and Technology issued reports that said America’s timing infrastructure was insufficient to support the growing internet of things (IOT).

The bill was sponsored by a broad coalition in the House led by Congressmen John Garamendi (D-CA) and Duncan Hunter (R-CA). Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ed Markey (D-MA) led the effort in the Senate, where the bill passed with an overwhelming majority.

U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) issued the following statements. “Establishing a reliable alternative timing system to GPS satellites is crucial to the national and economic security of the United States,” Sen. Cruz said. “If the current system were disrupted for even just a few hours, there would be an immediate threat to the American people, the economy, and our very way of life. Thankfully, Congress recognized the importance of addressing this issue. I am grateful for Sen. Markey’s leadership, and commend President Trump for signing this bill into law.”

“The nation’s banking, communications, electricity, and transportation sectors rely on the precise timing provided by GPS,” Sen. Markey said. “We cannot allow this vital system to be imperiled by natural phenomenon like solar flares or coordinated attacks like jamming. I am so proud that President Trump has signed this important bill into law, and I thank for Senator Cruz for partnering on policy that will enhance the resilience and reliability of this critical infrastructure.”

Defense attempt. Similar legislation that would have placed the responsibility for a terrestrial GPS backup system with the Department of Defense was introduced in 2015. While this was done with the acquiescence of senior DOD leadership, when the department later determined it did not want the responsibility, the measure failed.

While this new law is not a funding bill, Congress provided $10M for a technology demonstration in 2018. Also, having a law in place requiring the system paves the way for funding in future appropriations bills.
December 5, 2018
USDOT launches Drone Integration Pilot Program
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao has launched an initiative to safely test and validate advanced drone operations in partnership with state and local governments in select jurisdictions.

The Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program implements a directive signed by President Trump, and the results will be used to accelerate the safe integration of UAS into the national airspace and to realize the benefits of unmanned technology in our economy, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) press release.

Prospective local government participants are asked to partner with the private sector to develop pilot proposals. After evaluating all of the applications, USDOT will invite a minimum of five partnerships.

The department also will publish a Federal Register Notice with more details about how applications will be evaluated and how the program will work.

More about the program is available on the DOT website.

The program will help tackle the most significant challenges in integrating drones into the national airspace while reducing risks to public safety and security, USDOT said. The program is designed to provide regulatory certainty and stability to local governments and communities, UAS owners and operators who are accepted into the program.

In less than a decade, the potential economic benefit of integrated unmanned aerial systems into the nation’s airspace is estimated to equal up to $82 billion and create up to 100,000 jobs, according to an economic report by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).

The program will help the USDOT and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) develop a regulatory framework to:
- allow more complex low-altitude operations;
- identify ways to balance local and national interests;
- improve communications with local, state and tribal jurisdictions;
- address security and privacy risks; and
- accelerate the approval of operations that currently require special authorizations.
“This program supports the president’s commitment to foster technological innovation that will be a catalyst for ideas that have the potential to change our day-to-day lives,” Chao said. “Drones are proving to be especially valuable in emergency situations, including assessing damage from natural disasters such as the recent hurricanes and the wildfires in California.”

The pilot program will evaluate a variety of operational concepts, including night operations, flights over people, flights beyond the pilot’s line of sight, package delivery, detect-and-avoid technologies, counter-UAS security operations, and the reliability and security of data links between pilot and aircraft.

Industries that could see immediate opportunities from the program include commerce, photography, emergency management, precision agriculture and infrastructure inspections and monitoring.

“Stakeholders will have the opportunity through this program to demonstrate how their innovative technological and operational solutions can address complex unmanned aircraft integration challenges,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “At the same time, the program recognizes the importance of community participation in meaningful discussions about balancing local and national interests related to integrating unmanned aircraft.”
October 25, 2017