Safer communities in focus at technology hackathon

Technologies aimed at helping public safety agencies to carry out their duties will be developed at the Motorola Solutions 2018 hackathon.

At the event, Australia’s public safety agencies will describe some of their greatest operational challenges, and application developers will have just 44 hours to create software applications that support first responders and other emergency workers.

Now in its third year, the fast-paced event is designed to stimulate agile development and innovation with software developers creating new applications to help Australian emergency services work faster, safer and more productively.

Participating app developers this year include online social impact firm Battlerz, Mastercom as well as student teams from Melbourne University, RMIT and Swinburne.

Public safety organisations including Victoria Police, Victoria State Emergency Service, Ambulance Victoria and Crime Stoppers Tasmania will collaborate closely with developer teams on real-world challenges they face in their daily work.

When a major incident occurs, emergency services need dependable technologies and tools to securely share and receive real-time updates with other public safety agencies as well as to tap into broader information from the public and other sources.

This year’s event will utilise Motorola Solutions’ CommandCentral Aware platform to integrate a variety of voice, video and data intelligence sources that provide deeper insights for emergency services organisations.

The cloud-based platform is designed to provide agencies with a common, real-time operation picture of critical incidents as they unfold, drawing on multiple information sources from radio networks, CCTV, resource and location data, and social media feeds.

CommandCentral Aware will also be used to showcase the apps developed during the hackathon and to highlight the benefits of sharing the right information at the right time between public safety control room operatives and first responders working in the field.

“Our hackathons have really helped to accelerate growth and new opportunities for all participants,” said Motorola Solutions Australia and New Zealand Vice President and Managing Director Steve Crutchfield.

“Even more importantly, these events have helped Australia’s emergency services and developer teams to realise how much they can achieve together to address real-world needs within the rapidly changing public safety and security landscape.

“Working closely with developers through the hackathon also injects fresh energy into our business and complements the investment we continue to make with our growing graduate program.

“Through the use of advanced command centre technologies including CommandCentral, this year’s event will take collaboration and solutions development between public safety agencies and developers to new heights.”

The 2018 Public Safety Hackathon will take place at PwC Melbourne on Riverside Quay from 14–16 May.

The winning team will be awarded AU$25,000 in prize money, as well as support to grow its business and further develop its solutions to make them commercially available. Development firms will own full IP rights for any solutions they develop at the hackathon.

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