Table 6 summarizes the key conclusions generated from the workshop. Overall, participants agreed that regional coordination of telecommunications incident response should continue to be explored. One participant noted, “it’s intuitive that it’s a good idea to do this. Sharing information will help us respond better.” However, participants recognized the importance of a detailed and thorough exploration of the idea. Clarity of purpose and value were considered paramount. In the words of one participant, “Continue to clarify what you’re trying to accomplish because if there’s a good, compelling reason, there should be lots of support.” These conclusions represent a starting point for this effort. Regardless of the specifics of the approach chosen, participants called for full representation of stakeholders in the process and clarification of roles and responsibilities, both in terms of leading and participating in the exploration itself and in the strategies for regional coordination considered as part of the exploration. Participants agreed the greatest challenge to any multi-organizational collaboration is in the creation of a governance structure. The exploration would therefore need to provide insights on strategies and best practices in this area. Another key element identified by participants is the documentation of current as well as ideal communication and information sharing channels and encouraged workshop organizers to prepare a report of the workshop both as a record of the discussion and as a tool to seek support and funding for the continued exploration. Finally, participants encouraged the key stakeholders to continue to move this process forward through the creation of a report of the workshop and through the use of the report and companion pieces to secure support and funding for the required exploratory study.

Table 6. Key Conclusions
Current Environment
All agreed NCP and NCS are models for disaster management in the event of a national incident.
Of shared concern is when an incident is localized to either a specific geographic area or jurisdictions beneath the federal radar.
In the event of a regional or localized telecommunications incident, the NCS may not mobilize their members or mobilize only for information purposes; therefore, information may not be disseminated to the many different local entities that cross the organizational sectors.
Real time cross-organizational information sharing is even more important in the smaller, localized events where only one critical infrastructure is involved.
Value to the Public
The potential value created through enhanced coordination capability that resonated with the participants is continuity of government and real-time data to support informed decision making across each of the four stakeholder groups.
In the event of a regional, multi-state or multi-jurisdictional response, the participants emphasized the need to receive detailed information quickly so appropriate government officials are kept informed and can reassure and advise the public in a time of crisis.
Both government and private sector organizations need to invest in public trust and demonstrate capability to function in a crisis.
Information Sharing in Context
A telecommunications incident response can be severely hindered if the response team lacks granularity of data and contextual knowledge of the region.
Regional knowledge is imperative for decisions concerning resource distribution, response time estimates, and supplying special equipment in response to an incident.
Participants stressed the importance of having knowledgeable workers as near to the ground as possible.
Creating a clearinghouse for information is a potential strategy for improving the granularity of the data and the speed with which it could be delivered.
Knowing what information is important within the context of an incident is equally important to sharing.
Do not duplicate or tinker with something that is not broken
Do not duplicate existing services at the state or regional level.
Improve on what is currently being done while being sure not to tinker with something that isn’t broken.
Explore all possibilities and test all assumptions.