8
News
UK: Sepura sells 45,000
TETRA terminals
www.criticalcomms.com April 2019
Motorola Solutions
appoints a new CTO
Dr. Mahesh Saptharishi, previously chief
technology officer (CTO) for Avigilon
(a Motorola Solutions subsidiary
specialising in video analytics, network video
management software and hardware), has
become Motorola Solutions’ CTO.
He has more than 20 years’
technology leadership
experience and will
lead innovation at
Motorola Solutions
on mission-critical
communications,
video and command
centre software.
Areas of focus will
include applications that
bring together artificial
intelligence (AI) and human
intelligence to interpret vast
quantities of data, as well as new user
interfaces for the efficient delivery
of information.
Saptharishi earned a doctorate degree in
machine learning from Carnegie Mellon
University and has also authored numerous
scientific publications, articles and patents.
Motorola Solutions’ outgoing CTO, Paul
Steinberg, who held the position between
Sepura has sold more than 45,000
TETRA radio terminals to UK public safety
organisations since the introduction of
the national Police ICT framework in
November 2018, with the largest single
order amounting to more than 32,000
hand portable and mobile terminals
coming from the Metropolitan Police
Service (MPS).
The company states that the
framework has sped up the procurement
process for forces looking to invest in
new TETRA devices and accessories
while also allowing for sizeable cost
savings through its nationally coordinated
approach. The order from the
MPS is one of the largest that Sepura has
ever received. According to the company,
the Met’s decision to purchase Sepura’s
TETRA terminals was taken after an
extensive trial with the devices across
numerous sites involving varied teams
within the force.
The purchased terminals are from
the SC2 Series (both the SC20 and
the SC21, with the choice of terminal
per officer being dependent on their
operational requirement) and SRG3900
mobile series, supplemented by Sepura’s
range of audio accessories. These will be
deployed throughout 2019, with the first
devices going live in May and all devices
operational by December.
Gary Maughan, regional director for
the UK and Ireland at Sepura, said:
“The outstanding feedback from the
Metropolitan Police trial users was that
the SC20 and SC21 devices were
significant upgrades on their existing
terminals, with improved audio and an
intuitive user interface allowing officers
to use the terminal quickly with minimum
expense on training. By taking the time
to understand the force requirements, we
were able to deploy innovative solutions
that will enhance force-wide operations
and TETRA fleet maintenance. We look
forward to working closely with the MPS
to deploy the devices and further support
their communication requirements.”
August 2010 and February 2019, has
become the company’s senior vice-president
of technology. According to a company
spokesperson, he is now leading its technology
policy and patent operations team.
“In his technology policy role,
Paul will work closely with
our government affairs
and legal teams to
shape policy positions
with regulators,
government
officials and customers
across our entire
portfolio,” the
spokesperson said.
Saptharishi said:
“Motorola Solutions
has a proven track record
of creating next-generation
solutions for public safety and
commercial users. I look forward to building
on that track record by bringing advances
in AI and data-driven technology together
and embedding these in our mission-critical
communications, video and command centre
software platforms, creating integrated solutions
that enhance safety and improve efficiency for
our customers.”
PSCR launches haptic
interface challenge
NIST’s Public Safety Communications
Research (PSCR) division launched
a Haptic Interfaces for Public Safety
Challenge on 18 March, which will award up to
$425,000 to the winning teams.
Public safety officials perform their tasks in
a variety of environments, some of which may
severely limit their senses and their ability to
communicate; the challenge will investigate
the relevance of haptic interfaces to address
these issues. It will consist of multiple phases
in which the participants will develop haptic
interface prototypes to assist first-responders’
tasks in three virtual reality (VR) scenarios –
one for police, one for ambulance services and
one for firefighters; and in a realistic scenario
in which firefighters navigate and accomplish
a task at a firefighter training facility with
prototypes embedded into personal protective
equipment (PPE).
The challenge is seeking participation from
both haptic hardware providers and haptic
development teams. The former will receive
funding from PSCR that will allow each of
them to support up to three haptic development
teams working to create prototypes with the
provider’s products and services.
The competition is split into five phases,
which together will run between March and
November 2019. The submission deadline for
the first phase is 22 April – those wishing to
participate must register on Challenge.gov and
submit concept paper applications there on that
date by 5pm MT.
For more information, see: https://
publicsafetyhaptics.com
/www.criticalcomms.com
/www.challenge.gov
/www.publicsafetyhaptics.com