Video: Challenges of rural interoperability

Connectivity, reliability and interoperability are challenges for everyone, but especially so for authorities with responsibilities in rural and regional areas.

As Kelly Gottsponer, education and outreach coordinator for the Arkansas Public Safety Broadband Network, explains in the video below, the US state has its fair share of challenges.

Interstate I-40 is a major thoroughfare for trucking, and the state is affected by nearly every kind of natural disaster (except volcanoes and tsunamis) across terrain ranging from flood plains to rugged mountainous country.

Gottsponer said that interoperability can be a real difficulty, as the state’s public safety agencies use data in different ways.

For instance, some volunteer firefighters use hunting apps to determine air pressure and humidity, and EMS units are finding ways to get data back to local hospitals.

“It’s very important that we have interoperable communications — not only between our counties and municipalities, but with surrounding states as well,” she said.

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