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A capacity audience heard about the problems and solutions of a major command and control project at the recent Association of Security Consultants’ (ASC) Business Club Meeting, at the regular venue of 33 Bury Street, St James’s, London.
Chief Supt Peter Goulding, of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), gave a presentation about the largest change programme ever undertaken by the MPS, namely, the C3i Programme, designed to deliver a 21st century command and control infrastructure. Chief Supt Goulding stressed that it was all about "helping ordinary people do extraordinary things" and "the road to getting a more efficient and cost effective use of police resources".
He was assisted by Richard Thorburn, consultant to the Metropolitan Police.
What is C3i? C3i stands for Command, Control, Communication and Information.
John Gurney, Managing Director of Frequentis UK Limited, gave a presentation from the Prime Contractor delivery perspective, on ‘Effective Project Management through Partnership’. He covered the C3i project in terms of the Integrated Communications Control System and CCTV platform. John also mentioned that the company received the first commendation ever awarded to a company by the MPS, which acclaimed its successful delivery in just two years.
Andrew Denton from Meyertech, the sponsor for the meeting, gave information on the Video Matrix Design of the system.
Andrew explained that his company’s responsibility in the C3i programme was to build, deliver and commission the largest integrated video routing system the UK had ever seen and, according to Andrew, possibly the world.
He spoke about the entire C3i programme and how it involves several projects, including ICCS (the Integrated Command and Communications System), the integration of 32 London Borough control rooms into a Central Communications Command unit.
The other projects referred to include the introduction of new services such as a 999 interpreting service, an internet-based frequently asked questions (Ask the Met), and the implementation of Airwave, the new national radio service mandated by government to all police forces in England, Wales and Scotland.
Andrew detailed the challenges his firm faced to deliver such a large and complex video matrix system which, he said, were many and not just limited to technical challenges to meet the requirements of the MPS. Andrew also indicated that since the project was originally awarded, a number of expansion phases have seen the system grow to well beyond its initial specified size.
He finished his presentation with an insight into how to migrate an analogue system to a digital-IP system without the risks.
Tim Stanish followed next and provided details of Electrosonic’s involvement in C3i. He explained about image distribution and display of a large number of real time video sources and the benefits of a multi system integrated user interface. He indicated that the next step could be distributing high-resolution images over the network using low bandwidth, real time and lossless.
Roy Sutherland (Deputy ASC Chairman) concludedhe proceedings by thanking all those who had provided presentations and, in particular, for Chief Supt Peter Goulding’s candid input from the MPS, and all those who had attended.
Roy reminded the audience that the next ASC Business Club Seminar would be on Thursday, April 10.
The ASC organises a number of events during the year, for ASC members and others who are interested in security issues and technical innovations. As well as regular Business Club meetings, future events include the international showcase and conference of the ASC, CONSEC, which will be held on November 6 at the RAF Museum, Hendon, as last year. Further details from info@securityconsultants.org.uk
