14 Spring / Printemps 2017 width [17]. Hence, efficient use of wireless resources will always be a necessity. IV. Case study: Building Tactical Information System (BTIS) Let us now apply these attrib- utes to a mobile application that gives emergency responders access to building information while en route to an emergency scene. This application is part of a software solution referred to as a Building Tactical Information System (BTIS) [18]. This solu- tion is illustrated in Figure 2. III.10 BATTERY AND DATA EFFICIENCY The mobile application has to be as efficient in power and data as possible. Emergency respond- ers sometimes operate for pro- longed periods of time with- out access to power chargers. Hence, the application needs to be as conservative in its power consumption as it possibly can. On the other hand, emergency responders operate in all types of environments, some of which might have bad wireless cover- age. In fact, even with good coverage, emergency responders will ultimately use the PSBN that will have a 20MHz band- Upon dispatching a response team to an emergency scene, the dispatcher pulls available build- ing information from the data- base and pushes it to the response team through a wireless link. Table 2 above summarizes how BTIS meets the above mentioned attributes. V. Conclusions The public safety community is facing unique challenges as they embrace smart mobile technol- ogy. A growing number of mobile applications and software solu- tions are being built for this sector without proper consideration of technological, operational, and eco- nomical requirements. This article has discussed the potentials of smart mobile technology and highlighted ten key attributes that have to be considered in the design process. These attributes are then applied to BTIS. ■ VI. References [1] “Ericsson Mobility Report: On the Pulse of the Networked Society,” Stockholm, Sweden, 2016. [2] “Communications Monitoring Report,” Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, 2015. [3] “The future of mobile application,” UAB Collat School of Business, 2016. [Online]. Available: http://businessdegrees.uab.edu/ resources/infographics/the-future-of mobile- application/. [Accessed 15 July 2016]. [4] “The Five T’s: Taking Effect,” 23 May 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.nyc.gov/ html/nypd /downloads /pdf/home_ features/2016-05-23_nypd-five-t-s.pdf. [Accessed 20 Sep 2016]. [5] Transformational Task Force, “Action Plan: TheWayForwardModernizingCommunity Safety in Toronto,” Toronto Police Service, Toronto, ON, Canada, Jan. 2017. [6] “The Ottawa Police Technology Roadmap,” CATAAlliance, 18 May 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.cata.ca/ Media_and_Events/Press_Releases/cata_ pr05181601.html. [Accessed 20 Sep 2016]. [7] “Application Community - The Destination for Public Safety Apps,” APCO International, APril 2013. [Online]. Available: http://appcomm. org/. [Accessed 20 Sep 2016]. [8] M. Ogata, B. Guttman and N. Hastings, “Public Safety Mobile Application Security Requirements Workshop Summary,” National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - U.S. Department of Commerce, Gaithersburg, MD, USA, Jan 2015. [9] S. Quirolgico, J. Voas, T. Karygiannis, C. Michael and K. Scarfone, “Vetting the Security of Mobile Applications,” National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - US Department of Commerce, Gaithersburg, MD, USA, Jan 2015. [10]Y.-Y. Choong, J. M. Franklin and K. K. Greene, “Usability and Security Considerations for Public Safety Mobile Authentication,” National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - U.S. Department of Commerce, Gaithersburg, MD, USA, Jul 2016. [11]Office of Emergency Communications, “First Responder Mobile Application Development Best Practices Guide,” US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Washington, D.C., US, Dec 2014. [12]A. Abu Alkheir and H. T. Mouftah, Smart Technology Use with Public Safety and First Responders, Ottawa, ON, Canada: Internal Report, Sep 2016. [13]W. W. Jones, D. G. Holmberg, W. D. Davis, D. D. Evans, S. T. Bushby and K. A. Reed, ROI Operational Compatibility Cybersecurity Accountability Platform and Network Neutral Scalability Uniformity of Presentation Bilingualism Intuitive/User Friendly Battery and Data Efficiency The solution results in a measurable reduction in response time by cutting about five minutes of incident assessment and response planning times. The solution can be used for every building emergency incident, i.e., meet a daily need. The solution preserves the same command hierarchy that emergency responders currently use. The solution requires minimal effort from the dispatcher while giving him full information about the response team (who is available, who received the informa- tion and who did not, who is online and who is offline, etc.). The solution does not store building information locally on any device. The solution uses encrypted communication to send information to the response team. The database is hosted in a Tier 3 or Tier 4 datacenter. The solution does not send information to off-duty responders (they are marked as offline). The solution uses acknowledged communication to confirm reception of information. The database is populated and maintained by the emergency response department. Formal training is conducted prior to employing the solution. The software is platform agnostic. It runs on any mobile device and any desktop operating system with a modern internet browser. The software works on any public or private wireless network. The solution is not affected by the number of members on the response team. All members of the response team have the same information presentation on their devices. The solution supports English and French. The solution has an intuitive user interface for both responders and dispatchers. The solution does not store or process information locally. Compressed information is sent to the response team to reduce data traffic. Table 2: Key attributes of a mobile application as applied to BTIS DESIRED ATTRIBUTE HOW BTIS ACHIEVES IT