Two Aussies win international awards

This year’s International Critical Communications Awards acknowledge the best work taking place across the globe for the last 12 months. The 2021 ICCAs took place at the Casino de Madrid, following the first day of this year’s Critical Communications World, also held in the Spanish capital.

This year’s winners included two Australian utility companies rolling out equipment from Vertel and MCS Digital. The winners for best use of critical communications in the various categories were:

• Public safety: NSW Ambulance,with the Vertel Far West P25 radio network
• Public safety broadband network, highly commended: Innovation Alliance
• Transport: MCS Digital, with TETRA for metro trains in Sydney
• Utilities: Dicle Electricity Distribution Corporation with Hytera Hytalk PoC solution for Turkey Electricity Company
• Mining, oil and gas: Motorola Solutions, DIMETRA Express TETRA system and ATEX radios, supplied and managed by PS Radiocom for INEOS Aromatics, Belgium
• Best hybrid device of the year: Motorola Solutions, APX NEXT
• Best narrowband device of the year: Sepura for its SC21 hand portable TETRA radio
• Best use of advanced technology: TapSOS
• TCCA Young Engineer of the Year: Boon Beng Lee, Motorola Solutions
• Outstanding contribution to critical communications: Jeppe Jepsen, Motorola Solutions
   

Chair of the ICCA judging panel, Robin Davis, said: “After a difficult 19 months, it was truly gratifying to finally be able to come together as a sector and recognise the work of these amazing winners. Pandemic or not, the sector has proved itself to be as creative and agile as ever, solving operational problems and providing critical communications across the globe.”

This year’s judging panel included Iain Ivory, Ed Parkinson, Thomas Brewster, John Anthony MBE, Sandi Wendelken, Ken Rehbehn, Dr Bego Blanco, Anton Willem Abrahams, Adrian Scrase and Jo Gallacher.

The 2022 ICCAs will take place next June in Vienna, where they will once again be run in conjunction with Critical Communications World.