22 0523 p25 logo 30 anniversary opt 1b

The Project 25 Technology Interest Group (PTIG) held it’s 2023 Annual Meeting on Thursday September 28th.

The meeting was presided over by: Cindy Cast, Chair PTIG, and Radio Systems Manager- Miami Dade County Florida, Stephen Nichols, Executive Director, Project 25 Technology Interest Group, and Cheryl Giggetts, Treasurer PTIG, and Principal- CTA Consultants.

A Board of Directors and slate of Officers were elected including some returning members and five new members from the P25 Community.

The Officers for the coming 2023-2024 year include: Chair: Brad Stoddard Director of Michigan’s Public Safety Communications System (MPSCS) and the Statewide Interoperability Coordinator (SWIC); Vice Chair: Jim Holthaus, USDOJ; Treasurer: Cheryl Giggetts, Principal, CTA Consultants; Secretary: Andy Davis, Motorola Solutions, Chair TIA TR-8.

Incoming New PTIG Board Members Include: Geoff Spring, University of Melbourne Australia; Michael Rohrbacher, Director of Public Safety Communications, State of New Mexico Department of Information Technology; Tom Bretthauer, Data Systems Manager at Office of Information Technology, Multi-Agency Radio Communication System (MARCS) in Ohio; Rajit Jhaver, Director of Operations, Federal Engineering; Mitch Urbanczyk, Senior Vice President of Sales, JVC Kenwood/EFJI.

Returning PTIG Board Members Include: Ron Williscroft, City of Winnipeg, Canada; Siralal Mallawa Arachchi, Principal Technical Advisor, New Zealand Police, Nina Koshinski, Chief, Radio Applications & Networks, P25 System Administrator & Program Manager: Pennsylvania State Police; Ed Latimer, Marketing Program Manager, Viavi Solutions; Dave Collett, IT Manager-Public Safety, State of Nebraska; Michael Schafer, President, Compliance Testing; Nick Pennance, Chief Revenue Officer, Tait; Robert Kwapisz, LMR Solutions Manager, Zetron; Rich Cagle, Chief Growth Officer, Mission Critical Partners; Brandon Diemer BLM NIFC; John Richards, Director of Radio Operations, State of Maine; Scott Wright, Sr. Telecommunications Engineer and Co-SWIC, State of Connecticut; Justin Evans, Radio Systems manager, Montgomery County TX; Sonia Kendall, US Coast Guard; Doug Chapman, VP Business Development, Etherstack; Robin Grier, President, Catalyst; Dominick Arcuri, Subject matter Expert,Televate; Jeremy Elder, Director, Product Line Managment, L3Harris.

A number of PTIG Board Members retired this year including: Cindy Cast (PTIG Chair), Miami Dade County FL; Rick Schmahl, Ohio MARCS Program Director and SWIC, State of Ohio; Mark Ketchum Broken Arrow OK; Amy Lawrence, Marketing Program Manager, Viavi Solutions; Karthik Rangarajan, JVC Kenwood EFJI. They are recognized and thanked for their years of loyal participation and service to P25 and PTIG.

PTIG welcomed three new Commercial Members over the past year. Prism IPX, Byne (Brazil), SkyMira, and Omnitronics (Australia) all joined the group.

Commenting on the previous year’s activities, Stephen Nichols, PTIG Director stated:
Renewed growth and interest for Project 25 was in strong evidence over the last year. Website activity was up over 46% from the previous year and PTIG offered “standing room only” P25 panel presentations at both IWCE and APCO conferences. New and existing P25 Systems are growing rapidly with a grand total for P25 Conventional and Trunked Systems at 3,605. Project 25 technology remains the defacto Standard for Public Safety LMR Communications in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.”

“Our Mission continues with the development and sharing of information about P25 Standards, Benefits, Applications, and Market. Thanks go to our member companies and P25 agency representatives for their continued loyal support and participation. The primary focus during the past year has been to offer a broad library of information and updates on the P25 Standards including the latest new applications & benefits to Public Safety and government. In addition, to reinforce the need for continued funding and development for P25”.

The Project 25 Technology Interest Group meets via web MS Teams Meeting on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3:30 PM Eastern. If you would like to become a member, contact Stephen Nichols: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.