Economy

Use technology to fight terrorism, Motorola tells Kenya

terror

Security personnel patrol near Westgate Shopping Mall after the September 2013 terrorist attack. PHOTO | FILE

Kenya should use advanced security software to deal with the Somalia border crisis and the terrorism it has bred within its borders, US technology giant Motorola Solutions has said.

The American multinational, which now specialises in mission-critical communication services, said other governments and agencies have benefited from new technologies to keep people safe. 

“We highly encourage Kenya to think in a wider perspective and solve some of the issues they currently have around terrorism,” said the president and general manager of the firm’s Israel office, Shimon Dick, who also covers Africa.

Mr Dick attended a dinner with President Uhuru Kenyatta in Jerusalem in late February where the issue of a nationwide security system came up.

“You cannot rely on a private operator like Safaricom to support the police,” he said in reference to the telecom firm’s Sh14.9 billion National Surveillance, Communication and Control System. “That is just a general example, but it does not happen anywhere else in the world.”

Mr Dick was speaking on the sidelines of the Critical Communications World (CCW) 2016 Amsterdam, an industry conference now in its 18th year. The forum is organised by the non-profit TETRA and Critical Communications Association.

The Motorola chief advised Kenya to go for a standard, secure system that can be used for cross-border communication and in co-operation with Somalia.

“I recommend Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) because it has stable infrastructure, the system is resilient and even if you lose the switch you can talk between just two base stations.”

Interior ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said there already exists “an independent and default radio communications system for police and other security agencies.”

READ: Kenya buys Sh1bn pilotless aircraft in war on Al Shabaab

After the Westgate Shopping Mall terror attack in September 2013, various experts pointed to the lack of an effective communication system between the police and military as having complicated the rescue operation.

At the Amsterdam conference, specialist companies such as Airbus Defence and Space are showing ways to make cities safer and how technology can be used to assist law enforcement organisations.

The European company has previously unsuccessfully tried to clinch a police communication system tender in Kenya.

Some of the innovations at CCW 2016 include a back pack from Nokia called Ultra Compact Network, which can launch a small-scale 4G network within minutes.

The network can provide voice, video and data services in emergency situations, remote locations and events, and act as a hotspot for public safety organisations, industries and operators. It has a range of 75km and can be used by up to 400 users.

Motorola is showcasing radios, software solutions, enhanced infrastructure and a virtual reality-enabled command centre concept in Amsterdam.

“The world is getting more dangerous, from a cyber-security but also from a physical security perspective and that’s why we are innovating technologies to keep people safe,” says Jack Molloy, the firm’s executive vice president of worldwide sales.