North Carolina's innovative approach to emergency communication has garnered national attention, earning the N.C. Department of Information Technology's N.C. 911 Board the prestigious 2025 State IT Recognition Award from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO). In the Information & Communications Technology category, the award spotlights the state's successful deployment of the Next Generation 911 system.
Upon announcing the winner, NASCIO applauded the system's resilience, especially during natural disasters like Hurricane Helene that struck North Carolina last year. The advanced 911 infrastructure handled a 55% spike in call volume, routing nearly 90,000 calls to partner PSAPs. Despite being ravaged by Hurricane Helene, "It performed as designed throughout the storm so that all 911 calls were delivered, and callers received the help they desperately needed as circumstances allowed responders access to the impacted areas," L.V. Pokey Harris, the board’s executive director, told the N.C. Department of Information Technology's news site.
This year marked another milestone for the Next Generation 911 system with the successful trial of geospatial 911 call routing in Richmond County. During the well-attended NASCAR event at Rockingham Motor Speedway, emergency calls within the event's radius were directly funneled to assigned telecommunicators, allowing prompt response prioritization. Having witnessed the trial's efficiency, several other localities have expressed interest in applying this technology for upcoming events.
Under Secretary Teena Piccione's leadership, the N.C. 911 Board continues expanding the cutting-edge network, which aligns PSAPs throughout the state. Tom Rogers, the N.C. 911 Board’s network engineer program manager, asserted their commitment to innovation: "We’re always looking for ways we can advance and enhance 911 service throughout our state." Following the award, the board expressed its commitment to use technology for creating a safer, stronger North Carolina, as told the N.C. Department of Information Technology's news site.
The N.C. 911 Board, part of the N.C. Department of Information Technology, oversees the distribution of funds from a statewide service charge applied to voice communication services to sustain and enhance the capabilities of the state’s 124 PSAPs.
