CONFERENCE REPORT
THE EVOLVING CRITICAL COMMS ENVIRONMENT Ged Griffin, Centre for Disaster Management and Public Safety, University of Melbourne
Standards, spectrum, security, cloud computing, the IoT and applications were on the agenda at this year’s CCMENA.
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had the good fortune to once again attend the Critical Communications Middle East and North Africa (CCMENA) conference in Dubai (25–26 September 2017), and it offered me the opportunity to reflect on how much the conversation regarding public safety mobile broadband has advanced over the last 12 months. Last year the presentations and discussions were focused on a debate regarding the choice of networks in terms of 4G or 5G, and the strategy options in terms of dedicated, commercial or hybrid networks. This year there was a greater focus on applications and system features. It appeared that delegates had accepted that their choice of network will be driven by the availability of both budget and spectrum. I think this is a positive step as it enables decision-makers, vendors, engineers and users to start envisioning the huge potential of the new mobile broadband environment. Barbara Held from Germany’s Federal Agency for Public Safety Digital Radio (BDBOS) provided a comprehensive overview of the current status and development of public safety broadband initiatives across Europe. It appears that there is either a strong focus on hybrid solutions or the various governments are still discussing a range of options, including testing some of these potential options. Within the MENA region, authorities and decision-makers have few budgetary and spectrum restrictions and this has allowed them to be at the forefront of innovation. To this end, Dr Fahad Mushayt of BRAVO provided a detailed presentation outlining the strategic approach taken by Saudi Arabia to develop a nationwide critical communications service to meet the public safety needs of the kingdom. I am sure that the European delegates were envious of this operating environment, given their highly restrictive budgetary allocations and the limited spectrum availability in Europe. This environment is further complicated by cross-border relationships with multiple adjoining countries. As an Australian I can identify with the budgetary challenges, but I certainly appreciate the ACMA’s approach towards inclusive and strategic allocation of spectrum. The key issues at the forefront of discussions this year included standards, spectrum alignment, security, cloud computing, the Inter-
22 Critical Comms - Nov/Dec 2017
Dr Fahad Mushayt, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s BRAVO, spoke on efforts to develop a nationwide critical communications service. Image courtesy Airbus Defence and Space. net of Things (IoT) and applications. Standards must be a critical element of our future communication ecosystems, as they are at the heart of interoperability and cost reduction. The key challenge is that a number of these standards are still being developed. So how do you specify or design a network without the full range of standards? Unfortunately there are no easy answers to this question, but it is obviously a shared responsibility of all participants within the communications industry. It also underpins the need to be actively involved in the various communication industry associations and to attend major communications conferences such as CCMENA and Comms Connect. The TCCA has also established the Critical Communications Broadband Group (CCBG) to drive the development and adoption of common global mobile broadband standards and solutions for users who operate in a mission- or business-critical environment.
New technologies Security within the LTE environment is a significant risk; it is an issue that has to be considered as a principle element within every aspect of the communications ecosystem. As detailed by Kiran Vaya of Motorola Solutions, the proliferation of IP-based technolo-
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