TETRA  |   LTE  |  2017-12-11

App Developers are Allured by Airbus

Source: The Critical Communications Review | Gert Jan Wolf editor

Airbus honoured pioneers of public safety applications for the LTE-Tetra device Tactilon Dabat during the PMRExpo fair in Cologne.

In view of the pending Airbus Critical App Challenge in Munich next February, the company has honoured trailblazers of public safety applications for the LTE-Tetra device Tactilon Dabat. The German IT companies ESG, secunet and Stashcat received the Tactilon Dabat award for innovative solutions towards helping police officers and rescue services perform their tasks more efficiently.

The recognition event, which took place on the Airbus stand during the PMRExpo 2017 fair in Cologne, Germany, highlighted the future incentives for app developers who register for the Airbus developer programme SmarTWISP and the Critical App Challenge from 2 to 4 February 2018.

“While moving towards the next-generation communications solutions for public safety we need creative partners. The Tactilon Dabat, an all-in-one Tetra radio and Android smartphone device, is the perfect reference point to use to develop applications with multiple benefits for both users and app developers,” explains Catalin Gheorghiu, Product Business Manager for the app developer programme SmarTWISP of Secure Land Communications at Airbus.

Application developers can register for free to the SmarTWISP programme on the Secure Land Communications website and find a kit which helps with the making of new mission-critical applications. Once approved for a free membership, developers can access guidelines, tools and the application programming interface (API). Furthermore, developers themselves benefit from special training, tools, as well as reward schemes, especially when applications sell well.

The SmarTWISP developer programme has opened the premium membership levels “Licensed” and “Certified”. Upon approval, the application developers and solution providers will be equipped with Tactilon Dabat devices. They will also be able to purchase SmarTWISP credits which will give them the possibility to have their solution tested and certified by Airbus.

Furthermore, the first Airbus Critical App Challenge will take place in Munich, Germany, from 2 to 4 February 2018. This competition is a collaborative event with a limited amount of time to invent new smartphone applications for public safety users, such as police and rescue personnel. Hackathons are based on the idea that people from diverse fields of competences collaborate intensively to create a proof of concept of their ideas.

Currently, Airbus experts are evaluating the best proposals in the framework of the SmarTWISP app developer programme and in mid-January will announce the participants for the “Critical App Challenge”. The 3-day event will be organised by Airbus and the company Industryhack. Airbus will announce the results during the Critical Communications World exhibition in Berlin in May 2018.