Public Safety Communications Europe Shares Highlights from the PSCE Gothenburg Conference

Cooperation and Innovation at the Heart of Public Safety

Last week’s conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, brought together experts, policymakers, and representatives from both the public and private sectors to address key topics shaping the future of public safety and societal resilience.

A central theme of the event was the Total Defence concept, a cornerstone of Sweden’s national security strategy, which encompasses the country’s comprehensive emergency preparedness. Speakers highlighted the significant efforts made by Swedish authorities, notably the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS), to strengthen emergency readiness, with a particular focus on a regional initiative on local survivability in healthcare services (Västra Götaland County).

The conference also emphasised the importance of Nordic cross-border cooperation, especially in critical communication, which plays a vital role in ensuring coordinated and Some more work will continue on architecture and scalability and fleet mapping. It appears also very clearly that standardization and a common interpretation of standards among vendors are crucial. OPT also tests the solutions and provides valuable feedback on the operational use of technologies. At the occasion of a multidisciplinary hands-on workshop for the 6G4Society project, we explore how technological developments are purposefully designed to support PPDR objectives and that technological evolution and performance shall align with the values of our society. effective regional responses to emerging threats. Discussions further explored AI applications for public safety, showcasing practical insights into how innovative technologies can be integrated into critical communication systems and crisis management tools.

Another major highlight was the progress made towards the establishment of an updated European Critical Communications framework, underlining the growing need for secure, interoperable infrastructure at the European level. Different facets were presented: the recent evolution of the EU policy context, the supportive role of the EUCCS preparation project, the activities of the Technical Validation Team (TVC) and the involvement of practitioners through the Operational Procedures Team (OPT). Two TVC representatives from the Dutch Police and the Swedish Civil Protection explained the working relations with the vendors for establishing the 8 testbeds for testing the interconnection of the MCX solution and some preliminary results.

Some more work will continue on architecture and scalability and fleet mapping. It appears also very clearly that standardization and a common interpretation of standards  among vendors are crucial. OPT also tests the solutions and provides valuable feedback on the operational use of technologies.

At the occasion of a multidisciplinary hands-on workshop for the 6G4Society project, we explore how technological developments are purposefully designed to support PPDR objectives and that technological evolution and performance shall align with the values of our society.