Meeting the demand for technology that provides accountability and transparency.
Recently, Mark43 named a new Board of Advisors made up of leading voices in the field of law enforcement and information technology. We sat down with each of them and asked them three questions about their roles with us. Next up: Zal Azmi
Zal Azmi is a former chief information officer of both the FBI and the Executive Office for United States Attorneys who is currently president and chief operating officer at Innovative Management & Technology Approaches, Inc. Mr. Azmi served for 25 years in a variety of leadership positions within the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, and the Intelligence Community. At the FBI and with the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, he established CIO organizations, information assurance and cybersecurity programs, portfolio and asset management capabilities and modernized the organizations’ information technology infrastructures.
What do you see as some of the most urgent issues at the intersection of public safety and technology?
The public is looking for a higher level of transparency. Specifically, transparency as it relates to accountability, sharing data on their actions and activities. Law enforcement can provide that, but there is a need for technology that enables the public safety organizations to actually share information in a very responsible way. After law enforcement takes an action, there is often a delay or even a lack of information. Technology can help that process. It can expedite the time it takes to communicate what actions were taken, why those actions were taken, what is the end result, and how the public has been kept informed. That is where new technology can help tremendously.
Keep in mind that not all law enforcement organizations have state of the art technology and platforms. There is a real need for technology that enables them to provide the accountability and transparency that the public expects. This is where the intersection of public safety and technology comes together – what the public expects from law enforcement and what is the message that those agencies want to share with the public.
What sets Mark43 apart from other public safety technology partners?
I’ve spent the last ten years in the federal government supporting law enforcement, so that has been an area I’ve always known has needed more capabilities, more new technology. There is a need for a platform that public safety agencies can rely on and trust. The challenges facing the law enforcement community range from addressing crime to domestic terrorism and natural disasters. How can we prepare the community to be responsive and quickly get ahead of some of these challenges?
Mark43 has provided a platform that can help law enforcement and public safety tremendously. The Mark43 platform is a purpose built platform, meaning it does not try to be everything to everyone. It is also a cloud-native platform, so it is resilient. It is always there, always available, always backed up. That intrigued me. It is very specific to the mission, a mission that is critical to our public safety.
“Keep in mind that not all law enforcement organizations have state of the art technology and platforms. There is a real need for technology that enables them to provide the accountability and transparency that the public expects.”
The law enforcement community is not well-funded. They have technology that is often decades old. They can be hesitant to transition to a new platform, or lack the funding or expertise to migrate all of the data that may reside in their data warehouses. The cloud-native platform can help them with that transition.
What is a trend you expect to see more of in the future of public safety technology?
There are some trends that will always be present in technology. One is miniaturization of the hardware. The other is the power of the processor – how much information the hardware can process. The power of processing will always be moving forward, but the critical part of it is an application that will sit atop the hardware and the processor, that can actually crunch the information. This is a trend we will see – the expanded use of a platform that can actually provide timely and accurate information to first responders and the law enforcement community. By the time an officer has responded to an event, they should see all of the information about that event. Is critically important to have a powerful platform to crunch that data and give it to a responder by the time they get to that address. We will see more technology capabilities to provide actionable information to our first responders.
Mark43 works in partnership with more than 120 public safety agencies across the globe, providing them with new technologies that enable officers to spend more time in the field with the community.
