As promised yesterday, I am going to continue the theme of Digital Government, today examining the role of public safety in the discussion of strategic sourcing and and pursuit of an innovation agenda.
In an emergency, the FCC observed that you can send a text message for help to almost any working phone number, other than 911.
It is no better in Canada.
Emergency bureaus are often using equipment that is outdated and not able to take advantage of the communications capabilities that are in the hands of most Canadians. No video chat. No sending photos from the scene. Activating GPS? Ha!
As FCC Chair Genachowski says, it is time to bring 9-1-1 into the digital age.
In order to be able to respond to an emergency, our public safety answering points should be early adopters of advanced technologies. Too often, budget squeezes have them ‘make do’.
Who will take the lead in ensuring that Canadian first responders aren’t left behind. As I mentioned Wednesday, Minister Clement’s Digital Economy status report chided Canadian businesses for failing to exploit technologies:
the best infrastructure, with the highest speeds, is of little use if businesses are not exploiting it. Canadian businesses, large and small, have to adopt technology in order to become more productive, innovative and competitive.
Shouldn’t our public safety agencies be model customers? Like Canadian businesses, it appears that many government agencies “have to adopt technology in order to become more productive, innovative and competitive”.
Mark;
Congratulations on two great posts – yesterday’s and today’s. They are both bang on in that they raise key questions that have gone unanswered and unaddressed for far too long.
Part of the problem behind the issues you raise is the fact that government departments have become, unfortunately, silos, each one separate from the other and, even within departments there are silos. As a result, to get departments and/or components of a department to think horizontally so the left and right hands know what they are doing so they can act in a coordinated and well thought out fashion is near impossible.
I would respectfully recommend that you and our federal/provincial/territorial governments should add the words “efficient” and “effective” to your last sentence ‘Like Canadian businesses, it appears that many (governments and) government agencies “have to adopt technology in order to become more productive, innovative and competitive”. Then, maybe, we’d get somewhere.
Mark,
The issue of bringing 911 into the digital age is actually being worked on fairly diligently right now within the CISC. The wireless carriers and other industry participants, including the PSAPs, are working on a Canadian solution for SMS-to-911 but I have to tell you, this is by far not an easy thing to do. PSAPs with zero budget dollars to upgrade equipment, a monopolistic supply of 911 services in Canada, and wireless carriers with different SMS platforms make for a complicated stew of technologies that need to be accomodated before a solution can be offered to the public.
But they are trying.