Public Safety Technology to boost investments in Cameroon

The Political and Economic Affairs Officer at the United States Embassy in Cameroon, Dr. Derrin R. Smith, has said that the new public safety technology invented by the Motorola Company will attract more investments in Cameroon.

He made the observations at a press conference that Motorola, an American company, organised to launch its public service safety technologies at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel recently.

The technological novelty launched by Motorola Solutions is dubbed Safer Cities. It is within this context that the US Embassy official stated that, if Cameroon fully embraces such technology, it will enhance security in the country and make it more attractive to investors.

He said the judicious use of such high technology is a principal tool for the enhancement of security all over the world.

According to him, the innovations in information and communication technology, as provided by Motorola Solutions, is essentially for the beefing of security in rural as well as urban areas of the country.

The diplomat said American companies are not only interested in building a partnership with their Cameroon counterparts, but also concerned with production firms that will give added value to Cameroonian products.

He said US enterprises help to provide jobs for Cameroonians. In 2014, he went on, US exports to Cameroon stood at 303.3 million US Dollars. In the same year, Cameroon’s exports to US amounted to 184.4 million U.S. dollars.

The situation doubled by January 2015. Safer Cities
Speaking at the press conference, Motorola Solutions’ experts said the adoption of such technology can set any city in the list of the safest cities in the world. To them, the technology is an array of high-tech public safety solutions that will help to make Cameroonian cities safer.

“The solutions include integrated command and control systems that law enforcement agencies can use to deal with complex situations in a pro-active and efficient manner and video surveillance systems that allow information sharing in real time,” they stated.

“Today’s public safety and enterprise professionals need Communication solutions that help translate information from multiple sources into intelligence, thus ensuring Safer Cities” Motorola Solutions’ Director of Development for West and Central, Louis-Herve Beleoken, told reporters. He cautioned that technology investment in public safety must be long, integrated, easy to deploy and use.

“It’s all about sharing information with those who need it most, when they need it the most. There is a huge amount of information flowing between citizens, responders and agencies. By turning noise into information, information into intelligence and intelligence into actionable insight, safety agencies can do the absolute most with less-building Safer Cities in the process.”

The Manager for Sales and Development of Motorola Solutions in Sub-Sahara Africa, Boaz Or-Shraga, said Motorola enjoys over 50 years of experience in the African market. He said the company serves most African Governments and dozens of enterprises.

“We have always considered Africa as a top strategic market, especially in recent years when many economies are growing unprecedentedly,” he said.

“Data is a key factor for improving public safety - and using it smartly is a crucial factor for Safer Cities,” said Motorola Solutions Premier Public Safety specialist and former Chief Superintendent at the Metropolitan Police of London, Peter Goulding.

He added: “Our new communications and data technologies provide real-time data from the fields, sophisticated intelligence tools for processing it, sharing the information and assigning missions in the fastest forms.

The improved decision-making and the situation’s management system tools, he went on, have a direct impact on improved efficiency of public safety units and the security of the population. He said new technologies revolutionise the ways surveillance video from the field is used.

To him, 99 percent of all currently recorded surveillance video is being used at real-time or not being used at all. The Motorola Solutions experts demonstrated how they could use their internal gadgets and devices to detect and track crime in cities.