About This Blog

Frontline 2.0 closely scrutinizes the technologies geared to help front line workers in law enforcement, fire and emergency prevention do their jobs effectively and efficiently in a more complex world facing conflict, financial meltdown and climate change. Many major urban police forces, for instance, rely on sophisticated databases to collect information on suspects and statistics on various crimes in local areas. But it is not unusual to find a reliance on paper files by some patrol officers Also, various surveillance solutions purchased in the haste of a post 9/11 scenario make sense and help front line people in local government do their jobs; others appear to be a waste of money. Furthermore, the Katrina related tragedies in New Orleans have demonstrated the necessity for a more co-ordinated and technological response towards impending natural disasters.

As a correspondent for Digital Communities I plan to separate the wheat from shaft in policing, fire and emergency prevention solutions and products from my conversations with the vendors, users and analysts.