Building Partnerships Breakout Session 
Best Practices & Lessons Learned 

. When and where appropriate, attempt to incorporate Federal 
agencies 

. When developing an interoperability solution, governance 
and planning are the initial issues that should be addressed 

. It is easier to build consensus/partnerships among the 
agencies within your county, but difficult to partner with 
neighboring counties 

. When partnering for interoperability solutions, it is important 
to sign agreements and/or Memorandums of Understanding 
(MOUs) 

. Communications plan and training requirements development 
are vital parts of the partnerships process 

. Allow partner agencies to take ownership and provide input 
for a solution 

. Conduct/facilitate monthly meetings to allow potential 
partner agencies to be involved in discussions regarding 
solution capabilities and training requirements 

. Attempt to remove County/City/Federal politics in order to 
seek partner agencies 

. To avoid political battles, attempt to “stay under the radar” 
and focus on solution requirements 

. Conduct outreach efforts to inform agencies of 
interoperability capabilities 

. Leverage existing regional governance structures or 
committees 

. Ensure potential partner agencies have sound, reliable 
systems 

. Know where/when to draw the line for defining “regional” 
and which entities to include 

. Allow a project “champion” to sell ideas to politicians and 
inform them of the benefits to their constituents 



. Seek partnerships on all levels of government