Director of NATE WIN, Scott Krouse took the stage yesterday at the South Wireless Summit to discuss NATE’s history, growth, objectives and initiatives, noting that tomorrow marks its 22 year anniversary.
NATE now boasts 810 member companies across eleven countries. The spectrum of companies is diverse and NATE recently added the public safety member category which includes first responders, law enforcement and fire departments on local and state levels. On Tuesday, NATE announced it added another new member category – technology, classified for any company whose primary source of revenue is derived from the manufacturing, sales, design and use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and related software, 5G wireless systems, the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities, mobile devices, cloud computing, software, big data analytics, wearables and other emerging innovations.
“Through the addition of this technology membership category, the association is making a firm commitment to assure the companies in the emerging wireless technology space know they have a home that can help support their respective businesses,” said Krouse.
Executive Director Todd Schlekeway echoed Krouses’ sentiment in a press release, “NATE is excited to offer this dynamic new membership category as technological advancements continue to transform the industry at a breakneck pace. NATE represents companies involved at all levels of the wireless ecosystem and the addition of the technology membership category will allow us to continue to add innovative companies to the Association as the wireless networks, products and services for the future become a reality.”
Krouse also touched on NATE WIN which went public at the end of October 2016. It consists of liaisons in the 50 states in addition to four provincial Canadian liaisons, one in the Bahamas and eight regional ambassadors. He described it as a “grassroots effort and ‘boots on the ground’” to take NATE to the people. It is “here to support local, state and regional organizations as well as to foster communications and collaboration between all stakeholders in the wireless ecosystem.’
Other “game changing resources and initiatives” included the introduction of the ANSI/ASSE A10.48 Standard and Season Two of the Climber Connection video series which will introduce several more episodes this year featuring Safety Climb Systems, UAS operations, Stadium DAS and Snowcat Operations and Access. Krouse also highlighted UAS initiatives, the Tower Family Foundation, the OSHA Susan Harwood Training Grant Courses, the NSWA Certification Program and the annual NATE UNITE conference which will also be held in Nashville in 2018. As Inside Towers reported, last year’s event had a record number of exhibitors and attendees.
March 30, 2017
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