British APCO offers a fresh new event for 2012

The UK's only event for all professionals in emergency planning, communications and public safety data management is undergoing a transformation at its next outing in 2012, with "tents" of knowledge exchange to match what the Association has developed as an organisation.

The annual Exhibition and Development Sessions moves to Manchester for 2012 with high level training sessions, debate and new learning. It was formerly run at the Business Design Centre in London under the BAPCO banner (British Association of Public Safety Communications Officials)

British APCO has a fresh new agenda to drive knowledge exchange and integration of new technology, spectrum allocation and harmonisation. The annual event will offer a unique forum to discover cost saving local and global technologies and applications, and to explore the most pressing themes for the industry, which will shape the future for front line operatives in mobile data.

The exhibition will showcase new and interactive solutions from well known names and new suppliers including: Capita, Airwave, Mason Ltd, Cadcorp, ETPS, Fortek, Remsdaq, 3tc, Terma, Syntech, Traka, APD Communications, Infoterra, Red Box and Codegate amongst others, and will include a live and interactive demo from Motorola Solutions of how RFID can assist in not just asset tracking but also people tracking and incident management, to save not just costs but also lives in critical incident situations.

RFID is just one of the subject "hubs" to be addressed at the event. A series of Development Sessions and training presentations throughout the two days at British APCO 2012 will address a number of key areas, including the use of Long Term Evolution to meet front line demand for information-rich data to inform decisions in crisis management, and how to marry the potential offered here by new broadband providers with existing voice solutions. This will be the subject of a major Round Table debate hosted by Wireless magazine in partnership with Motorola Solutions and the TETRA Association on day one of the event. Senior representatives from APCO, Fire Brigades, the MOD and the utilities will examine the roadmap for TETRA in public safety, whether and how TETRA and LTE networks can work together for combined voice and data solutions, whether LTE with voice capability should indeed be used for public safety and can dedicated spectrum be found?

Social media will be a key feature, having value not just to law-breakers or in exonerating peaceful protesters, but in the management of public safety in crisis situations including transport incidents or natural disasters. On day two of the event Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Peter Fahy will speak on the autumn riots, and GMP's ongoing use of social media as a means of public facing communication.

999 Futures is another central Session, which will seek to establish future requirements for emergency communications to form the base of published recommendations on behalf of sector professionals to maximise cost and front line efficiency in crisis management.

Commenting on the new developments, Tony Antoniou, Executive Director of British APCO said:

"The new model for the annual show is one of having villages of interests and knowledge exchange. With the exhibition to bring it all together, what sits in these specifically themed sub-events and areas will be of great interest, and more closely match what we are doing as an organisation. This is a very exciting time for us"

Not only is the content and agenda new for 2012, the event has relocated to Manchester Central, a move designed not only to completely refresh the presentation of British APCO 2012, but also to significantly reduce the associated costs of attending for visitors and exhibitors. Manchester also offers excellent transport links and a range of hotels to suit all budgets. The full session programme will be published shortly. For further information in the meantime, exhibitors and visitors should contact Brintex on + 44 (0) 207 973 6635.

For further information and to register for the event, please visit
www.bapco.co.uk