Emergency services across at least 14 US states have reported outages of their 911 lines on Monday.
Issues were reported by police departments in counties across Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
Impacted counties reported losing connectivity for 911 phone and SMS services, but did not provide any technical details about the source of the outage.
“ATTENTION: The 911 lines are not operational nationwide. This is for phone calls and text messaging,” the Minneapolis police department wrote on Twitter earlier today at the start of the outage.

ATTENTION: The 911 lines are not operational nationwide. This is for phone calls and text messaging. If you need police, fire or emergency medical assistance in Minneapolis, please call 612-348-2345. We will advise when this issue is fixed.
— Minneapolis Police (@MinneapolisPD) September 28, 2020

911 services are down in the City of Tucson. If you need to make an emergency call, dial 520-372-8011. We will let you know when 911 is back online. pic.twitter.com/aDfAIX3yDU
— Tucson Police Dept (@Tucson_Police) September 28, 2020

Multiple U.S. cities are reporting 911 outages at this time.
— Outage Alert ⚠️ (@OutageAlert2020) September 28, 2020

The outage impacted all emergency services simultaneously, and 911 services were restored within 30 and 60 minutes for most affected counties.
A clue of the source of the outage comes from the city of Redmond, Washington, home of tech giant Microsoft, which also reported a similar phone line outage and blamed the incident on “a larger Microsoft 365 outage.”

As of 5 p.m., City phones and emails are experiencing intermittent outages related to a larger Microsoft 365 outage. We are hoping the issue is resolved shortly. Sorry for any inconvenience.
— City of Redmond #MaskUpRedmond (@CityOfRedmond) September 29, 2020

On Monday, Microsoft reported a massive outage after a recent infrastructure change took down services like Office.com, Outlook.com, Teams, Power Platform, and Dynamics365. The company fixed the issue earlier today by rolling back the problematic change.
However, the Microsoft outage only impacted Office and email-related services.
Other sources suggest the 911 outage may not be related to the Microsoft Office 365 outage at all, and most likely originated at a provider of PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points).
PSAPs are telephony systems where 911 (or 112) emergency calls are terminated before reaching the actual emergency service call centers. They’re choke points in 911 traffic, which explains why multiple emergency services across different states had issues. According to reports on Twitter, a PSAP provider named Intrado was most likely behind the 911 outage today.

Intrado and TCS are the biggest players in the E911 routing and interconnection space. They make it possible for CLECs, wireless providers, voip providers, etc to route E911 calls to PSAPs nationally without having a relationship with each.
— Matthew Hardeman (@mdhardeman) September 29, 2020

News of the 911 outage comes on the same day that a major ransomware attack took down multiple Universal Health Services (UHS) hospitals across the US. Many users have suggested that the two are connected; however, there is no evidence to support this theory, at the moment. More

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Singapore has again pushed back the deployment of its next-generation electronic road pricing (ERP) system, this time, due to the global chip shortage. The satellite-based network is now expected to be rolled out in the second half of 2023, instead of end-2021. It was originally slated to be implemented from 2020, but this was delayed to early this year with completion set for mid-2023. The government then had pointed to the impact of COVID-19 on global supply chains as the reason for the revised timeline. With the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) ERP network now anticipated to be rolled out only from the second half of 2023, it would mean a delay of almost two years before implementation works–spanning 18 months–would be completed. These will include the installation of a new on-board unit, to replace current in-vehicle units, which are mandatory for all registered vehicles in Singapore, with few exceptions that include vehicles that do not use public roads on the mainland or are subject to usage restrictions such as tractors and construction equipment.  

The on-board unit is described as “central” to the new ERP system, providing various services to motorists such as alerts on electric charging locations and real-time traffic data. The supply of critical microchips needed for these units, however, had been affected by the “worsening” global shortage, which also had impacted other industries, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in a statement Wednesday. The industry regulator noted that, amidst accelerated global demand during the pandemic, the suspension of operations in major semiconductor foundries across multiple countries had affected production. This, in turn, severely impacted the production of electronic devices in multiple sectors including consumer electronics, industrial machines, and automotive. According to LTA, parts required for the on-board units had to be sourced from different suppliers, some of which had indicated their inability to meet the required delivery schedules for critical components. This shortage was expected to continue throughout 2022, with chip production projected to ramp up gradually from end-2022 to mid-2023. 

Due to the uncertainty in the supply chain, implementation of the on-board units should only commence when production was “stable and sufficient”, it said. “To ensure a smooth and uninterrupted installation exercise for all motorists, the installation of on-board units is now planned to commence in the second half of 2023, instead of end-2021,” LTA said. It added that it would work with local systems integrator NCS and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Engine System Asia on the production and installation of the on-board units. MHI Machinery Systems’ president Naoaki Ikeda said the company was “working closely” with its supply chain partners to source for the affected components and “safeguard their availability” for the installation.Singapore’s current ERP system, launched in 1998, uses a combination of smart card and RFID (radio frequency identification) technology to collect toll charges as vehicles, including motorbikes, drive through gantries. These typically are located along highways and roads that are frequently congested during peak hours. Smart cards carrying stored cash value, also dubbed CashCards, are inserted into the in-vehicle units and funds are deducted each time the vehicle passes through an ERP gantry that is in operation. According to LTA, the current system is increasingly expensive to maintain and the new GNSS infrastructure will do away with the need for bulky gantries, which will be replaced with slimmer ones.As of October 2021, Singapore has a vehicle population of 987,450 that comprises cars, taxis, buses, and motorcycles.RELATED COVERAGE More

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Singapore has called on global organisations such as the United Nations (UN) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) to reform, so international rules are in line with cybersecurity and other key digital developments. The Asian nation also underscores the need for unified cooperation against COVID-19, which it notes has accelerated “self-defeating” sentiments worldwide including protectionism and xenophobia. 
Continued international cooperation was key to overcoming the impact of the pandemic as well as to rebuilding, and nations needed to build greater trust and learn from each other, said Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, in the country’s national statement at the UN General Assembly’s General Debate of the 75th session held Saturday. 
Delivered via video message, Balakrishnan said in his speech: “The world is facing a period of prolonged turmoil. The multilateral system is confronted by nationalism, xenophobia, the rejection of free trade and global economic integration, and the bifurcation of technology and supply chains. 

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“But, these threats are not new. COVID-19 has, in fact, accelerated and intensified these pre-existing trends. Protectionism and unilateral action will ultimately be self-defeating,” the minister said.
He noted that modern supply chains were complex, where it was difficult to locally produce all key items since materials and expertise from elsewhere always would be needed at various steps of the process. This was reflected in the disruptions many countries experienced in the flow of essential goods during lockdowns.
Bifurcation also reduced the global pool of knowledge as well as opportunities for the sharing of benefits from research and innovation. Because countries had been open to sharing scientific knowledge, Balakrishnan noted, test kits could be produced quickly during the early phase of the current pandemic. The same global cooperation now was essential in the development of a vaccine to ensure equitable and universal access, he said. 
He added that global trust would be eroded if contractual obligations for the export of critical goods and movement of people were breached. 
He further underscored the need for rules-based multilateral system to be reformed, so it was “fit for purpose” and able to adapt to the changing realities of today. 
Apart from the need to work together towards a COVID-19 vaccine and to rebuild communities, Balakrishnan urged for continued efforts to address challenges posed by the digital revolution, cybersecurity threats, climate change, and transboundary pollution.
“We must harness new digital technology for the benefit of all our societies whilst mitigating the possible negative impact,” he said. “COVID-19 has accelerated the deployment of artificial intelligence, robotics, digital payments, e-government services, and remote work.”
Globally, governments, businesses, and individuals needed to be able to transact and transfer data securely across borders. This stressed the need for the world to develop a “trusted, open, and inclusive cyberspace” underpinned by international law and norms of responsible state behaviour, the minister said. In this aspect, he noted, Singapore supported the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation. 
He further urge the need for international institutions to remain inclusive and transparent.
The UN’s role, for instance, was critical, but the 75-year organisation itself needed to “adapt and reform” so it could respond effectively to current and future challenges, and remain relevant for the next 75 years.
The same was true for the WTO, he added. Noting that the international trade organisation’s rules were designed for an agricultural and manufacturing-based world economy, he said WTO today was in urgent need of reform. 
Balakrishnan said: “The world needs appropriate rules for services, especially digital services and intellectual property, in preparation for this digital age that is unfolding in front of us.”
He stressed that open, rules-based multilateral trading system was a foundation for sustainable global recovery and had enabled countries to trade in goods and services in mutually beneficial ways. Post-pandemic, nations must look to further strengthen this system so it could work better for the future. 
“International governance, now more than ever before, needs to be more representative, more inclusive, and more open. We need to take into account a wide spectrum of views and do more to acknowledge the rich diversity of our global community,” the Singapore minister said. 
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