Press Release
Richard Falkenrath Joins PacketHop Advisory Board
Former Deputy Homeland Security Advisor Strengthens Company's Homeland Security Expertise
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - December 5, 2005 - PacketHop, Inc., the leader in next generation mobile mesh software that enables real-time multimedia applications for instant wireless group communication, today announced that Richard Falkenrath, a Senior Fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution and former Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor, has joined the company's advisory board. PacketHop's advisory board consists of experts with a broad range of expertise across many industries and disciplines.
"Richard is a renowned expert at all levels of homeland security, counterterrorism and law enforcement, and we are thrilled to welcome him to our advisory board," said Michael Howse, president and chief executive officer of PacketHop. "Richard's extensive national security background will be invaluable as PacketHop focuses on meeting the mission-critical needs of the public safety and homeland security markets."
The AWARE™ Communications Suite uniquely enables the formation of mobile mesh communications using standards-based, Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices like laptops, tablet PCs and PDAs. Its Aware for Public Safety multimedia applications provide first responders with completely distributed broadband capabilities - including real-time multicast video, GPS-enabled resource location tracking, white boarding and multimedia instant messaging - without requiring a network server. PacketHop is the only company that can create wireless broadband communications on the fly supported by server-less multimedia applications purpose-built to operate in this unique, infrastructure-optional environment.
"Situations requiring incident communications - terrorist attacks, natural disasters and other emergencies - can occur anywhere, regardless of the presence of communications infrastructure," said Richard Falkenrath. "PacketHop's highly secure, rapidly deployable and interoperable solutions provide public safety agencies with true mobility and on-demand multimedia communications to effectively and immediately respond wherever incidents arise."
Prior to joining the Brookings Institution, where he focuses on homeland security, national security decision-making, intelligence policy and global counterterrorism cooperation, Falkenrath was Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor, a position he had held since January 2003. Previously, he served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Policy and Plans within the Office of Homeland Security since October 2001. He also served as Director for Proliferation Strategy on the National Security Council staff from January to October 2001, and was a member of the Bush-Cheney Transition Team for the National Security Council.
Falkenrath was Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, before entering government. From 1995 to 1998, he served as Executive Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (BCSIA).
Presently, Falkenrath is also Senior Director of the Civitas Group LLC, a strategic advisory and investment services firm serving the homeland security market, a security analyst for the Cable News Network (CNN) and a member of the Aspen Strategy Group.
Falkenrath holds a Ph.D. from the Department of War Studies, King's College, London, where he was a British Marshall Scholar, and is a summa cum laude graduate of Occidental College, Los Angeles, with degrees in economics and international relations.
About PacketHop
PacketHop, Inc. develops mobile mesh networking software that enables instant wireless group communications for commercial enterprises, government organizations and consumer markets. AWARE™ Communications Suite software enables 802.11 standards-based devices to create extended Wi-Fi hot-zones on the fly - known as autonomous mobile mesh networks - which can securely operate with or without access points. By making infrastructure completely optional, PacketHop delivers coverage wherever and whenever instant wireless broadband communications are needed - with greater resiliency, reliability and robustness than any other comparable technology. Along with the company's device agnostic mobile mesh networking solution that enables rapid and cost-effective deployments, PacketHop offers the Aware for Public Safety suite of multimedia applications, including real-time multicast video, resource tracking, instant messaging and white boarding. Founded in 2003 and based in Silicon Valley, Calif., PacketHop is funded by venture firms U.S. Venture Partners, Mayfield, ComVentures and GF Equity Partners, as well as SRI International. For more information on PacketHop, please visit www.packethop.com.