Inmarsat showcases unified mission critical communications to support Kigali smart city initiative

Inmarsat is showcasing how satellite communications can be deployed to deliver unified mission critical data and voice communications at the Transform Africa Summit (10-12^th May) in Kigali, Rwanda.

The summit, organised by the Smart Africa Alliance, brings together Presidents and senior government officials from 18 African nations, alongside leading technology innovators, such as Inmarsat.  The purpose of the summit is to discuss and demonstrate how key technologies, including satellite communications, could be deployed in Africa to accelerate socio-economic development.

The theme of this summit is Smart Cities and one of the critical developmental areas on the agenda is how technology can be deployed to enhance the safety and security of citizens.

Inmarsat is at the leading edge of integrating a range of technology solutions that build on, and further enhance, the existing communications infrastructure of key security and disaster response agencies.  The goal is to demonstrate how satellite communications can enable first responders and other relevant government departments to coordinate security and relief efforts more effectively and operate jointly in ways that were not possible just a few years ago.

Until recently, many security and safety agencies, such as emergency services, defence and intelligence, have operated independently of one another, procuring and deploying their own unique communications solutions to meet individual operational objectives.  However, the Internet of Everywhere, Everything and Everyone has transformed how individuals, organised social groups, and commercial companies now communicate and organise themselves, and this transformation has also been embraced rapidly and effectively by criminals and terrorists alike.

The need for responsive and effective joint operations among the security and safety agencies has never been greater and Inmarsat has responded with the rapid innovation of a number of data, video and voice solutions, which integrate terrestrial and satellite communications services in a secure, resilient and cost effective manner.

Andy Start, President, Inmarsat Global Government, said: “The President of Rwanda, H.E. Paul Kagame, recognises the vital contribution of ICT to the development of African nations and took the lead in establishing the Smart Africa initiative, which many other African nations quickly embraced.  Inmarsat was the first private sector partner to join Smart Africa, and we are very excited at the prospect of being able to contribute practically to the objectives of the alliance. The Transform Africa Summit in Kigali provides an unrivalled opportunity to showcase Inmarsat’s innovative and compelling solutions designed specifically to address the unique operational challenges faced by security and safety agencies. This all adds up to fewer lives lost to security and disaster incidents and to citizens feeling, and being, safer; to creating a protected environment where commerce and leisure activities can flourish.”

Inmarsat’s Global Government team will be demonstrating a range of mission critical unified communications solutions at the Transform Africa event, which will enable Government officials to see very directly how their security agencies and disaster response organisations can benefit from access to real-time video surveillance, integrated push-to-talk radio networks, and enhanced command and control, and situational awareness, linking their mobile and remotely deployed personnel back to the operational HQ.