Clarity replaced confusion today in the municipal broadband market, as dozens of public safety officials and broadband experts gathered in Santa Clara to discuss mobile applications that can enhance public safety.
Instead of talking theory, public safety gurus from across the country described fully functional applications during a MuniWireless 2007: Silicon Valley pre-conference workshop.
What a difference a year makes. Back in October 2006, many industry watchers — MuniWireless included — focused on digital inclusion as a driving force for municipal broadband. In fact, our October 2006 conference featured a standing-room-only session on digital inclusion.
Fast forward to October 2007. Sure, digital inclusion remains a worthwhile goal. But finding dollars, partners and sustainable business models for public broadband deployments has proven difficult.
In stark contrast, public safety deployments are moving forward, noted today’s workshop speakers. Dan Coulombe, chief of police, Hermiston, Ore., described
- Chris Jensen, a detective from the Phoenix Police Department;
- Jeff Gottstein, president of Law Enforcement Technology Group; and
- Bill Marion, director of information services, Milpitas, Calif.
A year ago at this time,
Records management system in the car. Gottstein demonstrated a mobile public safety application running on his PDA. He queried a state and federal database to show attendees how public safety networks can rapidly search a person’s driving record for moving violations and other information.
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