Expanding ICT investment options for Australian Organizations

The ability to improve emergency-services organizations’ ICT systems with little flexibility to experiment with new technologies poses a conundrum for operational experts Australia-wide.

“The ongoing requirement for reliable systems and increasing situational awareness makes progress in emergency-services organisations (ESOs) a careful affair combining forward-looking vision with on-the-ground reality… the expansion of high-bandwidth 4G mobile networks offering new options for real-time communications, ESOs are finding they have access to a rapidly expanding range of solutions.” – GTR Magazine

Tait Communications recently took part in the Government Technology Review (GTR) magazine’s roundtable discussion – “Emergency Services” – where communications industry experts shared their thoughts on the present and future state of the communications environment for Australian ESOs.

The discussion included:

• How communication innovation is being driven in the emergency services environment
• How ESOs approach IT challenges, such as bring your own device (BYOD) strategies and budget crunching, compared to other organizations
• The role of voice radio for emergency services in a mobile app environment
• How social media is being utilised as a new source of information for responders
• How novel geospatial technologies are included into ESOs’ everyday operations
• The public versus private network debate for ESOs – can 4G support their requirements during emergency events?
• If cloud technologies have helped ESOs to handle peak traffic during emergencies?
• The role of wearable technologies in the emergency-services arena