The Emergency Alert System
An Assessment by the Partnership for Public Warning


Kenneth B. Allen
Executive Director
Partnership for Public Warning

and

Frank Lucia
Board Member, Partnership for Public Warning

August 27, 2003

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Contents:
Transcript (HTML)
Transcript (MS Word)

Related Websites:
PPW Request for Comments on Draft EAS Recommendations
Draft Document
FCC EAS Page

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KENNETH B. ALLEN

Kenneth B. Allen is an accomplished executive and leader with experience as president and chief executive officer, government relations expert and lobbyist, newspaper publisher, senior government official and management consultant.

Mr. Allen is currently the executive director of the Partnership for Public Warning, a new not-for-profit institute established to improve the nation's public warning capabilities. PPW is unique in that it provides a forum where private industry, academia, non-profits and local, state and federal governments are working together to improve America's ability to alert and warn citizens.

Before joining PPW Mr. Allen was a consultant assisting non-profit organizations improve their management and operations, grow their markets and communicate their message. Services include strategic planning, product development, marketing, government relations, public relations and futures research services. Mr. Allen has a special expertise in change management.

Mr. Allen spent five years as the executive vice president and chief executive officer of the National Newspaper Association (NNA). As the voice of America's community newspapers, NNA is the largest newspaper association in the nation. Mr. Allen was also the publisher of Publishers' Auxiliary, the oldest newspaper serving the newspaper industry. Campaign & Elections magazine cited him as one of the "Rising Political Stars of '98."

Mr. Allen also spent 10 years with the Information Industry Association (IIA), a Washington, DC-based trade association representing over five hundred of the world's leading publishing, technology, and telecommunications companies. In addition to managing the association, Mr. Allen also managed the Global Alliance of Information Industry Associations (GAIIA), a network of information industry associations in over 30 countries. The National Journal profiled Mr. Allen as the "top gun of the information industry"

Mr. Allen served under Presidents Bush, Carter and Reagan as a senior policy analyst with the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB). While at OMB, Mr. Allen was responsible for overseeing the acquisition and management of government information technology. He was instrumental in developing and implementing the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within OMB as well as major policies governing executive branch information activities on information access, dissemination, and privacy. He also participated in President Reagan's regulatory reform program and President Carter's Data Processing Reorganization Project.

Mr. Allen has a BA in political science from the University of Illinois and an MS in administration from George Washington University.

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FRANK LUCIA

Frank retired from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in January 2001, after serving 36 years. He started with the Commission in 1964 after graduating with a B.S. Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He served in various positions at the Commission including: Senior Project Engineer in the Laboratory and Research Divisions; Chief of the Communications Operations Branch for the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS); Director, Emergency Communications; and Special Advisor, Emergency Alert System (EAS).

His early years at the Commission involved field research of land mobile communications, radio signal propagation, and the development of TV propagation and interference curves. He served in the Navy Communications Group during the Vietnam War. For 24 years he was involved in the EBS and EAS. He managed the FCC's role in the Broadcast Station Protection Program (BSPP), a program to protect broadcast facilities during emergencies. He developed the idea of the Primary Entry Point (PEP) system for the National level EBS. He also served as a Commission representative to several Federal government preparedness groups.

He assisted in the five year development of the EAS including the field testing of alerting systems, development of the Commission's EAS proceedings, and the authorship of 47 C.F.R. Part 11, Emergency Alert System. He received several awards from both government and industry for his achievements.

Frank is a member of the Partnership for Public Warning (PPW) and a 2002 PPW board member. He is presently consulting for the Louis Berger Group to develop the Washington DC National Capital Region EAS plan.

Frank is married to Elizabeth Lucia and has two children, two-step children, two grand children and one-step grandchild.

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