APCO 2019 is a premier event for public safety communications officials. With 5000+ attendees from emergency communications centers, law enforcement, fire service, emergency medical services, and government agencies, the conference offers four days of educational sessions, committee meetings, special events, and exhibits.
With so many sessions available it can be hard to pick what to attend. Here are 5 can’t-miss sessions at APCO 2019 that will be of special interest to anyone interested in the future of modern public safety software.
1) Confronting the Top Three Myths Around Cloud-based Technology for Command Centers
Sunday, August 11, 2019, 10:45 – 11:45 AM
Speaker: Col. James (Jim) Wolfinbarger (Chair, International Association of Chiefs of Police)
Track: Industry Products and Tools
As with many technology innovations, skepticism and doubt have influenced cloud-based public safety technology adoption. This presentation will examine the top three myths surrounding the cloud for public safety and explain how industry trends and new cloud migration models are dispelling these myths. It will explore why agencies are increasingly adopting cloud technology, while comparing and contrasting the three primary cloud models: Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. The discussion will focus on these models through the eyes of a 9-1-1 agency, taking into account security concerns, cost savings, and operational flexibility.
2) NG 9-1-1: What the Future Holds
Sunday, August 11, 2019, 2:45 – 3:45 PM
Speaker: Jay English (Chief Technology Officer, APCO International)
Track: NG9-1-1 and Emerging Technologies
With much discussion ongoing about the future of Emergency Communications, how do we get to NG9-1-1, and just what IS NG9-1-1? This presentation discusses the key concept of Interoperability at multiple levels and how the future of emergency communications depends on our technologies being able to interoperate.
3) Today’s 9-1-1 Centers and the Need to Conduct Cyber Risk Assessments
Monday, August 12, 2019, 2:00 – 3:00 PM
Speaker: Craig Meier (Baltimore City PD Communications Section Director/PSAP Director, Retired)
Track: Cybersecurity for Public Safety Communications
The technologies utilized by today’s 9-1-1 Centers continues to evolve, moving from closed mainframe systems, to client-server systems running on dedicated networks with phone systems being fed by analog lines to today’s migration to ESINets using connected networks and the use of cloud computing. These emerging interconnected systems also open the nation’s 9-1-1 centers to cyber threats. These new cyber threats ultimately drive the need for emergency communications centers to conduct regular ongoing risk assessments and periodic security testing to maintain confidentiality, integrity and availability of critical systems and databases.
4) ASAP to the PSAP: A No-Brainer That’s Faster Than Fast
Tuesday, August 13, 2019, 2:45 – 3:45 PM
Speakers: Bill Hobgood (Systems Developer Lead, City of Richmond’s Department of Information Technology, Public Safety Team), Jay Hauhn (Executive Director, ret., The Monitoring Association), Kim Green (Communications Center Administrator, Little Rock PD), and Chris Perry (Communications Supervisor, Tempe PD)
Track: NG9-1-1 and Emerging Technologies
The ASAP program has expanded to more than 50 ECCs in fourteen states plus the District of Columbia, and some of the largest alarm monitoring companies. Participants will learn how the ASAP program reduces 9-1-1 processing and response times to alarm events while eliminating mistakes, miscommunication, and telephone calls between alarm monitoring companies and 9-1-1 PSAPs.
5) Breaking Down Buzzwords: AI, Machine Learning and the Future of Emergency Communications
Wednesday, August 14, 2019, 10:15 – 11:15 AM
Speakers: Kevin Fray (Principal Solutions Architect, Mark43) and Doug Gartner (Senior Solutions Architect, Amazon Web Services)
Track: Industry Products and Tools
In our consumer lives, new machine learning technology makes it easier for us to find information and communicate with each other. As public safety professionals, we are only just beginning to realize the potential of machine learning technology and its ability to help agencies respond to emergencies, solve cases, and better communicate with the communities they serve. In this session, you’ll learn the reality behind some of the tech industry’s biggest buzzwords — AI and machine learning — and what this technology means for public safety agencies today and in the long term.
Mark43 will be in attendance at APCO 2019 and we’d love to buy you a coffee and talk shop. If you’d like to get in touch please reach out to events@mark43.com to schedule a time to connect at APCO 2019!
