A busy year for our industry

As we head towards the end of 2016 and Melbourne Comms Connect, I can reflect that this has been a very busy year for ARCIA. With events in Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and finally in Melbourne, plus all the others that members have supported, it seems like the year has flown by. Thank you to all the members, supporters and partners for the support that you all provide in one way or another.

The annual trek to Melbourne has arrived and I look forward to catching up with all the new technology on show and of course the ARCIA annual Gala Dinner. One of the highlights for me at the dinner is the peer recognition received by the award winners. It is important that we recognise the people in our industry who make things happen, often unseen in the back room. When you take the time to look around the industry and see what people are doing there is an incredible level of innovation and commitment to service. During critical public safety events such as the recent storms in South Australia, no doubt there were radio people working very hard behind the scenes to ensure the integrity of critical communications.

ARCIA has now released a white paper on the connection of LMR and airband services. For anyone involved in this part of the industry this is a must read and I would encourage you to head to the website and download a copy.

ARCIA continues to work on many areas, especially representing the industry to the ACMA and Department of Communications. As technology is moving quickly to hybrid networks and devices, it is important that our industry has a voice for all aspects of the critical communications industry.

Debate is raging in many nations about future public safety, mission-critical communications and the role of LMR versus LTE networks. As the UK and US versions of next-generation public safety communications take shape, ARCIA believes that Australia can learn many lessons from these countries. We need to build a consensus view between all stakeholders, including agencies, vendors and government, to reflect Australia’s many unique challenges. Our public safety users deserve the best technology we can provide them and it is up to our industry to be part of the solution.

No doubt there will be plenty of discussions around all these issues in Melbourne but don’t forget to celebrate our industry and those people that help make it all happen. From our ARCIA perspective we move straight into planning for the coming year, with our annual Committee Planning day due in mid-February and our session with our promotional partners the following day. Next year will be the 10th anniversary of the formation of ARCIA. It was back in February 2007 that a group of industry members met and decided that our industry needed to have a voice and a vision — I am sure they never thought we would achieve so much in such a short time.

If you have suggestions on what ARCIA should be working on over the next 12 months please talk to one of our committee members, but for the next few weeks enjoy the camaraderie and educational aspects of Comms Connect and the Gala Dinner, and have a safe and happy holiday season.

Hamish Duff

President

Australian Radio Communications Industry Association