Empowering Public Safety Data Solutions

Our Vision and Mission

To equip infrastructure owner/operators and public safety officials with the knowledge needed to make wise choices regarding the technologies they adopt in order to harness it for resilient and sustainable success.

Resilient Technology Solutions Group empowers public safety organizations and infrastructure owners/operators to harness technology for transformative growth through our strategic consulting.

Our Team

Chris Essid

Chris Essid is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of leadership in public safety communications, homeland security, and critical infrastructure resilience. He served as Director of the Office of Emergency Communications at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he led nationwide efforts to strengthen interoperable communications. Chris now advises government and private sector partners on strategic technology initiatives to enhance emergency preparedness and response.

John Contestabile

John is an experienced executive in the public and private sectors and at an academic research institution. He has worked on two governors’ staffs in senior leadership positions working with transportation, emergency management, and public safety entities. He is experienced in federal, state, and local government decision-making and operations. An engineer by training, he has planned, procured, and implemented technology projects including GIS, Land Mobile Radio, CAD, and TV datacasting. He has authored many articles as well contributed to several books. John is a leader in key industry associations and a sought-after public speaker on transportation, technology, and public safety.

Eddie Reyes

Eddie is a seasoned law enforcement executive with over 35 years of leadership in policing, public safety communications, and real-time crime centers. He served as Deputy Chief of Police at two large police departments in the Washington D.C. area and was the director of the second-largest 9-1-1 center in Virginia. Eddie now advises government and private sector partners on strategic technology initiatives to enhance emergency preparedness and response.

Good tech for good people

Today’s technology choices for public safety and key infrastructure agencies have never been more complex. With the advent of the internet, Next Gen 911, television “datacasting,” cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), 5G LTE, 6G, and smart phones/tablets, the capability that can be delivered to the end user is incredible. Tech choices are not becoming any easier and wise choices need to be made in order to deliver on that promise.

The founders of Resilient Technology Solutions Group have over 100 years of combined experience working at the federal/state/local government level as well as within academia and private sector. Chris, Eddie, and John have literally “seen it all” and have an unparalleled grasp of today’s tech challenges, and first-hand experience implementing these technologies to meet agency needs with market capabilities. They are uniquely positioned to provide vendor-agnostic advice to senior leaders faced with making decisions regarding how to specify, procure, install, and maintain technology.

The founders have all served on CISA's SAFECOM and led efforts for NPSTC. They are members of various associations such as APCO, IACP, NENA, TRB, and ITS America. They have led and served on various working groups for decades.

After years of service in these roles, the founders have reached a point where they wanted to come together to share their information and experiences with leaders in public safety infrastructure.

RTSG founders have held these leadership roles in public safety agencies and associations

Director, U.S. DHS Office of Emergency Communications
Deputy Director, DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency Emergency Communications Division
Acting Director, U.S. DHS Stakeholder Engagement and Cyber Infrastructure Resilience Division
Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to the Governor of Maryland
Assistant Secretary, Maryland Department of Transportation
Director of Prince William County, Virginia 911 call center
Deputy Police Chief, Alexandria City, Virginia
Virginia Statewide Interoperability Coordinator
Maryland Statewide Interoperability Coordinator
Board member representing the National Governors Association on the Public Safety Spectrum Trust (predecessor to FirstNet)
Chair, Video Quality in Public Safety (VQiPS) working group for DHS Science and Technology
Vice Chair, Special Committee on Transportation Security and Emergency Management [SCOTSEM] for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

Eddie, Chris and the Virginia SIEC with Governor Mark Warner at signing of the Virginia Statewide Communications Executive Order. (2005)

The Founders of RTSG have held leadership roles in federal, state, and local public safety organizations over the course of decades of service to the public safety industry. They each have held mission-critical responsibilities and have gained decades of experience.

They bring this experience and expertise to every engagement with RTSG clients.

Chris in Canada signing the US-Canada Communications Interoperability Working Group Charter. (2013)

John with Governor Martin O'Malley after signing the Executive Order creating the Maryland Public Safety Communication Interoperability Program. (2008)