A Future Vision for Smarter Public Safety Author: Julian Foster
In this blog series, Julian Foster reports on the launch of our UK Innovation Centre – sharing perspectives from senior executives on the future of Public Safety.
Eduardo Conrado, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Motorola Solutions, set the scene by defining the wider technology trends that are influencing our future vision for public safety and how these will impact officers around the World.
Top 6 technology trends that will influence public safety
- Smarter IoT Technologies. Not just within our homes, vehicles, connected cities, and infrastructure, but also from wearables on our Police Officers and Firefighters. More and more, you’ll see body-worn sensors providing valuable intelligence back to the Command Centre.
- Information Overload. Police officers and firefighters require “eyes up, hands free”. There’s no excuse for distraction. With more data available, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play an important role. Machine Learning will ensure only relevant situational insight is delivered to officers – at precisely the right time.
- Modality Interacting with Information. Right-now we’re used to interacting with data through touch – but as we enter the next generation of interface, it’s voice that will become a key modality. This is already happening in our homes, if you think of voice-activated assistants such as Amazon Echo or Google Home.
- Contextual Awareness. The importance of “who, what, where” and using that data to change the modality of how information is transmitted. How we interact with technology is going to become very important.
- Consistency Across Platforms. Wherever in the car, on the beat, at the station, or in an emergency situation – officers will need consistent delivery and flow of information regardless of what platform or interface they are using.
- Evolving Deployment Architecture. Whether data is stored on-premise, in the cloud, or delivered to The Edge, the exact architecture required varies per country. It’s only with this level of granularity that you can develop truly effective solutions to match the needs of Public Safety professionals around the World..
When we think about these wider trends, and combine them with observations from our customers – there’s a real opportunity for unparalleled levels of collaboration, situational awareness and productivity for public safety professionals of the future.
Sometimes a Customer Can’t Tell You What They Need, But They’ll Show You
Great products are not born from sitting in a lab. We have researchers whose job it is to “live” with our customers. Ride along with them, just observing, for 1000s of hours. Getting to fully appreciate what problems they have on a daily basis. We then look at what technology could do to help that. It’s only with this deep understanding that we can create technology solutions that truly address the needs of officers on the front line.
Designing for Moments of Terror
When we think about our design philosophy at Motorola Solutions, we talk about High Velocity Human Factors (HVHF) – designing for moments of terror. In that moment, a human brain has very little ability to process information – you only process basic properties such as colour, and your field of vision narrows. When a Police Officer is in this type of situation, context becomes very important. Is an officer doing a regular traffic stop? Sitting in his vehicle looking at information? Or on an active foot chase? Context is key when driving information out to the field.
As you look at the situation that each customer is in, you need to ask how can technology help to give an ideal user experience? And then design to that end point.
A Day in the Life of a Police Officer
There’s no “typical” when it comes to a day in the life of a Police Officer. But on the whole, we see that around 60% of time is spent on proactive policing, 15% on incident response, and 25% post incident (paperwork). If we can digitise as much admin as possible then that 25% will shrink to give officers more time to spend proactively fighting crime. We can then support officers with solutions that improve collaboration, and use AI to help predict crime. Then for during the incident, we can develop technologies that provide better insights directly to officers.
Future Edge Experience
When we think of our customers, we no longer think of one or two devices in the belt and on the chest. But actually, an eco-system of devices. At the heart of it you have a hub which is either a radio or an LTE unit – connected with a set of sensors around the officer’s body. These sensors may have different interfaces such as voice, augmented reality, or heads up displays. Video, not only for image capture, but more importantly to analyse and then trigger an action based on what’s happened. When we talk about audio, it’s not going to be just a modal of communication or a computational interface – but also using Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to analyse and either inject a bot or capture anomalies.
Today’s Connected Police Officer
Five years ago, the Motorola Solutions development team considered what the connected Police officer of the future might look like – with the combination of TETRA and broadband networks, personal area network and key wearable technologies. We added biometrics and the ability to capture heart rate. We connected sensors and accelerometers to guns and other devices worn on the belt. So as the gun gets drawn, it triggers a video camera to capture and send an image back to the Command Centre. We put smart glasses on the officer, so based on the context – if they’re in an emergency situation with gun drawn – the glasses automatically start capturing images. While smart glasses enable the Command Centre to push intelligence out to the officers and display details such as information based on licence plate number etc. About 90% of what we futurecast back then, is already going into our product roadmap.
Imagine a World 5 Years From Now
Last year we took another look into the future. The person, the vehicle and the drone will become a single unit. Working in unison, they’ll all be connected in the field and to the Command Centre. The vehicle will not only be a mode of transportation but also a partner – becoming a computational platform that analyses information in real-time.
When it comes to the officer we see biometric sensors and communication capabilities being distributed around the officer’s body in a single wearable. Charging, communication, and data components will all be combined. Augmented reality and multiple cameras – not just to capture video, but to automatically analyse the surrounding area as officers walk around and trigger an action based on what’s happening. Eduardo and his team are testing all of these technologies right now, so watch this space.
In my next blog, we’ll take a closer look at these innovative solutions, and consider how they’ll impact the working lives of Public Safety professionals in the future.
Julian Foster is Global Co-Lead for the Social Media Center of Excellence at Motorola Solutions.
Connect with Julian on LinkedIn
Follow #ThinkPublicSafety, @MotSolsEMEA, on Twitter.
Blog
Why do corporate rankings matter? Author: Ricardo Gonzalez
Recognition from Fortune & Thomson Reuters
2018 started off with an announcement that Motorola Solutions has been recognised in several corporate ranking lists, the Fortune Most Admired Companies list, Thomson Reuters list of 100 global Tech leaders and The Wall Street Journal’s Management Top 250 list. This year Motorola Solutions also celebrates its 90th anniversary, but clearly the industry pundits recognise the company has lost none of its entrepreneurial spirit.
But why do industry rankings matter? The rankings are all based on a set of slightly different but broadly related criteria, and essentially give a report which investors, customers and potential employees can all look to as a measure of the all-round health and well-being of the company
And it matters because a good ranking is like an independent school report, it takes a holistic view and it has to be earned. So you know you can trust its findings!
The Thomas Reuters ranking system has eight basic pillars of performance including innovation in technology. But companies also have to show commitment and competence across the areas of finance, management and investor confidence, risk and resilience, legal compliance, people and social responsibility, environmental impact and reputation.
In today’s evolving business world, it is more important than ever that companies can demonstrate solid technology foundations and business strength, coupled with other softer values such as a commitment to corporate responsibility. When today’s millennials are looking for their next opportunity they want to know that the company can be depended on to ‘do the right thing’, be socially aware, as well as technologically innovative.
90 years young, the corporation with a start-up mentality.
In my experience, technological innovation has the power to shoot start-ups to prominence. But, to maintain growth and long-term health they need to achieve operational stability. There is always danger that business processes cannot keep pace and that will damage their prospect for longevity.
Companies that have a proven heritage, commitment to change, continuous innovation and a strong engagement both within the company and with customers and partners have all the ingredients for a long-term exciting future.
This year, Motorola Solutions is celebrating 90 years since the company was founded in Chicago in 1928. We are also celebrating 50 years of Motorola Solutions in Germany. Please join us on the celebrations, come and see us at Critical Communications World in Berlin.
Ricardo Gonzalez is MSSSI VP EMEA Strategy and Marketing at Motorola Solutions
Connect with Ricardo on LinkedIn
Follow @MotsolsEMEA and search for #ThinkPublicSafety and #MSIquality on Twitter
A Future Vision for Smarter Public Safety Author: Julian Foster
In this blog series, Julian Foster reports on the launch of our UK Innovation Centre – sharing perspectives from senior executives on the future of Public Safety.
Eduardo Conrado, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Motorola Solutions, set the scene by defining the wider technology trends that are influencing our future vision for public safety and how these will impact officers around the World.
Top 6 technology trends that will influence public safety
When we think about these wider trends, and combine them with observations from our customers – there’s a real opportunity for unparalleled levels of collaboration, situational awareness and productivity for public safety professionals of the future.
Sometimes a Customer Can’t Tell You What They Need, But They’ll Show You
Great products are not born from sitting in a lab. We have researchers whose job it is to “live” with our customers. Ride along with them, just observing, for 1000s of hours. Getting to fully appreciate what problems they have on a daily basis. We then look at what technology could do to help that. It’s only with this deep understanding that we can create technology solutions that truly address the needs of officers on the front line.
Designing for Moments of Terror
When we think about our design philosophy at Motorola Solutions, we talk about High Velocity Human Factors (HVHF) – designing for moments of terror. In that moment, a human brain has very little ability to process information – you only process basic properties such as colour, and your field of vision narrows. When a Police Officer is in this type of situation, context becomes very important. Is an officer doing a regular traffic stop? Sitting in his vehicle looking at information? Or on an active foot chase? Context is key when driving information out to the field.
As you look at the situation that each customer is in, you need to ask how can technology help to give an ideal user experience? And then design to that end point.
A Day in the Life of a Police Officer
There’s no “typical” when it comes to a day in the life of a Police Officer. But on the whole, we see that around 60% of time is spent on proactive policing, 15% on incident response, and 25% post incident (paperwork). If we can digitise as much admin as possible then that 25% will shrink to give officers more time to spend proactively fighting crime. We can then support officers with solutions that improve collaboration, and use AI to help predict crime. Then for during the incident, we can develop technologies that provide better insights directly to officers.
Future Edge Experience
When we think of our customers, we no longer think of one or two devices in the belt and on the chest. But actually, an eco-system of devices. At the heart of it you have a hub which is either a radio or an LTE unit – connected with a set of sensors around the officer’s body. These sensors may have different interfaces such as voice, augmented reality, or heads up displays. Video, not only for image capture, but more importantly to analyse and then trigger an action based on what’s happened. When we talk about audio, it’s not going to be just a modal of communication or a computational interface – but also using Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to analyse and either inject a bot or capture anomalies.
Today’s Connected Police Officer
Five years ago, the Motorola Solutions development team considered what the connected Police officer of the future might look like – with the combination of TETRA and broadband networks, personal area network and key wearable technologies. We added biometrics and the ability to capture heart rate. We connected sensors and accelerometers to guns and other devices worn on the belt. So as the gun gets drawn, it triggers a video camera to capture and send an image back to the Command Centre. We put smart glasses on the officer, so based on the context – if they’re in an emergency situation with gun drawn – the glasses automatically start capturing images. While smart glasses enable the Command Centre to push intelligence out to the officers and display details such as information based on licence plate number etc. About 90% of what we futurecast back then, is already going into our product roadmap.
Imagine a World 5 Years From Now
Last year we took another look into the future. The person, the vehicle and the drone will become a single unit. Working in unison, they’ll all be connected in the field and to the Command Centre. The vehicle will not only be a mode of transportation but also a partner – becoming a computational platform that analyses information in real-time.
When it comes to the officer we see biometric sensors and communication capabilities being distributed around the officer’s body in a single wearable. Charging, communication, and data components will all be combined. Augmented reality and multiple cameras – not just to capture video, but to automatically analyse the surrounding area as officers walk around and trigger an action based on what’s happening. Eduardo and his team are testing all of these technologies right now, so watch this space.
In my next blog, we’ll take a closer look at these innovative solutions, and consider how they’ll impact the working lives of Public Safety professionals in the future.
Julian Foster is Global Co-Lead for the Social Media Center of Excellence at Motorola Solutions.
Connect with Julian on LinkedIn
Follow #ThinkPublicSafety, @MotSolsEMEA, on Twitter.
Mobilising Intelligence for the Middle East and North Africa Author: Patrick Fitting
Critical Communications MENA 2017, 25-26 September 2017, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
CCMENA is now in its 5th year and this year’s event will again draw critical communications professionals from across the region.
We are a gold sponsor of the event and you will find us exhibiting on Booth B6 as well as presenting during the two-day, free-to-attend, conference.
Our focus this year is Mobilising Intelligence...
We know that data has the potential to create safer cities, thriving communities, and more efficient and effective operations. But the power of the data is unleashed when it’s converted into actionable intelligence, and is in the hands of those who need it, when they need it, so they can make the best informed decisions when and where it matters most. To do this, you need mobility. Mobile Intelligence harnesses data by unifying applications, networks, devices and services to transform critical operations and work processes.
Let me bring you up to speed with what you can expect in more detail...
Our conference speakers will be contributing to some very topical discussions:
In the exhibition, on stand B6, as well as having industry experts on-hand to answer your questions, we will be showing a set of solutions that are critical elements of our mobile intelligence framework: a set of software and services, platforms and devices that span multiple networks and enable communication interoperability, seamless information sharing and collaboration. Here are some highlights:
I look forward to seeing you there.
If you can’t make it to the show or you want to keep up-to-date with our news and activity around CCMENA you can bookmark our microsite – www.motorolasolutions.com/ccmena or catch up with our YouTube Playlist
Patrick Fitting is Senior Sales Director, Middle East & Central Asia for Motorola Solutions
Patrick is on LinkedIn
Follow #TETRA #CCMENA and @MotSolsEMEA on Twitter.