Future is bright for public safety interoperability

By Lance Valcour*
Wednesday, 13 August, 2014

Public safety interoperability is experiencing rapid change globally, in fields such as public safety broadband access and NG9-1-1.

Disasters do not understand international boundaries. Nor do the public safety and emergency management officials who are tasked with responding to them. Now, more than ever, international cooperation in the field of public safety interoperability is helping to shape an extremely positive future for information sharing and enhanced community safety.

I’ve worked in the public safety field for close to 40 years and have conducted research in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Caribbean, United States and my home country in Canada, and I believe that responders are poised to make - and in many cases are already making - huge strides towards enhancing their capabilities in this field.

For example, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) now has at its disposal a world-class emergency operations centre that would rival any I have seen. Led by Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, the RFS not only leverages state-of-the-art technology but backs it up with solid emergency planning, training and exercises (where they sometimes shut down all the technology to evaluate how their members will respond).

On a recent speaking and research trip, I visited Amsterdam, Singapore and Sydney. In each place, issues such as information management, privacy, enhanced situational awareness, unmanned aerial systems, body-worn video, alerting, social media, shared environments, good governance (the key to success) and a host of related issues were being discussed by public safety and emergency management leaders.

One of those issues is the need for wireless broadband access for mission-critical public safety voice and data.

Initial efforts

The highest-profile effort to secure both the spectrum and the funding needed to begin the process of developing a public safety broadband network is that of the United States’ First Responder Network Authority, or FirstNet. FirstNet was created after Congress passed legislation in 2012 to “establish, operate and maintain an interoperable public safety broadband network”. It also allocated US$7 billion to the effort.

In Canada, the Canadian Interoperability Technology Interest Group (CITIG) announced in 2010 its intention to seek 20 MHz of the 700 MHz band for public safety use. CITIG made it clear that the Canadian Associations of Fire, Police and Paramedic Chiefs were standing shoulder to shoulder for this ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity to secure a national wireless broadband ‘system of systems’.

Since then, the Canadian government has set aside 10 MHz of the spectrum for public safety use, with an announcement pending on the second 10 MHz (or what American responders called the D Block). Once this announcement is made, and assuming it is positive, Canadian and American responders and emergency management agencies will have the same 20 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum available for use. As the two nations share thousands of kilometres of mostly unprotected borders, this new capability will be welcomed by all.

Emergency services personnel with earpiece radio

Credit: Highways Agency under CC

The key to this project, and most others, is that it is really not about the technology. Other important factors are governance, policies, procedures and so on. As you can imagine, getting two nations to agree on a common vision, and then a common path to achieve that vision, is a massive undertaking. Having said that, the level of coordination and cooperation between Canada and the United States is outstanding and both countries are anxious to keep ‘moving the ball down the field’.

The UK and European experience

Following the Canadian and US moves with public safety broadband, there has been an unprecedented level of cooperation to support similar capability planning elsewhere in the world.

In the United Kingdom, the Home Office is leading a research effort known as the UK Emergency Service Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP). A number of teleconferences have been held, with participation from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden. During one of those calls, various participants outlined their efforts to develop public safety broadband capabilities. While there were, and are, very different approaches to funding, governance and ownership, the critical issue of creating a powerful new broadband capability for emergency services was not in doubt.

A recent research paper drafted by the Royal United Services Institute provides an excellent analysis of a number of issues applicable to mission-critical voice, spectrum ownership and more. While it focuses on efforts in the United Kingdom, the principles and vision canvassed are relevant to the overall international effort.

In Europe, an already complex situation is exacerbated by the need to get all EU countries, their responders and frequency regulators to agree on a common vision and way forward. Fortunately, a number of EU entities, such as the Radio Communication Expert Group (RCEG) of the Law Enforcement Working Party (a mixed committee of EU and European Free Trade Association members) of the Council of the European Union, have come out strongly in favour of 20 MHz of 700 MHz broadband spectrum. The RCEG has publicly adopted a statement on the requirement for ‘Public Protection and Disaster Relief Organisations’.

While the RCEG represents the EU law enforcement community, a wider range of public safety and disaster relief organisations also support this position. Only time will tell if they will be successful in their efforts.

Helicopter ambulance attending a road crash

Credit: Loco Steve under CC

Australasian developments

On the Australian front, a number of emergency services agencies have been working to develop a public safety broadband capability. According to the latest information available, the federal government is currently conducting research on the ‘value’ of the spectrum being sought. I would argue that value can be defined in many ways. Certainly in these difficult economic times, the monetary value of the spectrum - what commercial entities might pay government to gain access (governments almost always own the spectrum, and only lease it for periods of time) - is significant.

Having said that, the argument in Canada and the United States was that the true worth of the spectrum was not its current monetary value but its long-term value to community safety, economic development (by stimulating research, innovation, job creation and safer cities) and enhanced effectiveness and efficiencies for responder and emergency management agencies.

One very positive, but non-binding, statement came from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement in its July 2013 report on ‘Spectrum for public safety mobile broadband’. Its first recommendation reads: “The committee recommends that the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy issue a Ministerial Direction to the Australian Communications and Media Authority to allocate 20 MHz of contiguous spectrum in the 700 MHz band for the purposes of a public safety mobile broadband network.”

Another item of research that is relevant to the issue of how much spectrum is required for public safety (10 MHz vs 20 MHz) can be found by reading the Government of Canada’s report, ‘700MHz Spectrum Requirements for Canadian Public Safety Interoperable Mobile Broadband Data Communications’, which states: “The results show that the amount of bandwidth required to satisfy the needs of public safety is greater than 20 MHz in the near-to-mid term, and likely to also exceed 20 MHz in the long term, despite advances in technology.”

Next Generation 9-1-1 and Triple Zero

While the long-term vision for international public safety agencies is the implementation of wireless broadband, a shorter-term challenge for these same agencies is the issue of Next Generation 9-1-1 or NG9-1-1. Most countries have a three-digit emergency call system with 911, 000, 111, 112 or various other numbering schemes in place. In Australia, the term used is Next Generation Triple Zero or NG000.

Essentially, NG9-1-1 is about improving the traditional emergency call system to include new capabilities such as text-to-9-1-1 (in most jurisdictions beginning with the deaf, deafened, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired community), photos-to-9-1-1, video-to-9-1-1 and, eventually, a wide range of data-to-9-1-1 (eg, medical information).

Wide view inside a control centre

Credit: Highways Agency under CC

Once again, while a great deal of discussion has been taking place about the underlying technology questions, from this author’s perspective the issues of governance, coordination and cooperation are far more urgent. It was with this in mind that CITIG joined with the Canadian arms of the Association for Public Safety Communications Officials and National Emergency Number Association to host an NG9-1-1 National Governance and Coordination Workshop in Ottawa in June of 2013. To read its recommendations, visit www.citig.ca/Data/Sites/1/newsfiles2013/ng9-1-1-status-report-vfinal-oct.pdf.

Another group that has been researching international best practices and developing recommendations for the future of NG000 is the National Emergency Communications Working Group-Australia and New Zealand (NECWG-A/NZ). It is expected that the results of its efforts will be available later this year.

Conclusion

When it comes to technology, it is clear that the consumer markets are driving innovation and change - just compare the devices used by most teenagers to those currently in use in most public safety agencies. These new, converged and intelligent technologies (such as sensors, unmanned aerial systems and satellite imagery) are coming faster than the agencies can afford or assimilate them.

But even with all this technology, much faster wireless pipelines and increased access to emergency data via NG9-1-1, the keys to success will continue to be enhanced levels of governance, policies and procedures. In other words, the people and the processes.

The bad news is that with ever-increasing disasters and emergencies, both natural and man-made, we need these advanced capabilities more than ever.

The good news is that public safety and government leaders are not only participating in this effort but, in many cases, are helping to shape its vision and future direction.

Lance Valcour portrait

*Inspector (Ret.) Lance Valcour O.O.M. retired from the Ottawa Police Service in 2010 after 33 years of service. From 2007 to April 2014, he led the Canadian Interoperability Technology Interest Group (CITIG). Valcour has extensive communications interoperability, command, leadership, strategic planning and technology program experience at the national and international levels. He is currently Chair of the Law Enforcement Information Management Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

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Take part in the discussion

Comms Connect has announced the introduction of a Public Safety and Emergency Management stream at its Melbourne event to be held at the end of September. A wide range of Australasian and international experts will be on hand to discuss, debate and showcase their efforts.

More info: comms-connect.com.au

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Future is bright for public safety interoperability

Initial efforts

The UK and European experience

Australasian developments

Next Generation 9-1-1 and Triple Zero

Conclusion

Take part in the discussion

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