New York, NY – Today, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of Melbourne to work cooperatively in the development of training, higher education and research in the public safety realm.

The University of Melbourne intends to establish a Centre for Disaster Management and Public Safety to be led by Professor Abbas Rajabifard, Head of Infrastructure Engineering. Through the MOU, the two parties will work together to create a curriculum utilizing each party’s expertise. The APCO International Institute is a worldwide leader in public safety communications training.

APCO International Immediate Past President and current Chair of the APCO Global Alliance Terry Hall signed the memorandum along with University of Melbourne officials while attending a symposium related to Next Generation Public Safety hosted by the University of Melbourne, which was conducted at the New York Academy of Sciences.  The APCO Global Alliance consists of the associations of APCO International, APCO Australasia, APCO Canada and British APCO.

APCO International President Gigi Smith said, “APCO is pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with the University of Melbourne to further advance the education and professional development of those in public safety communications and we believe this collaboration will benefit practitioners in many areas served by the APCO Global Alliance.

Both the University of Melbourne and APCO International will each appoint a representative to identify projects of interest to both organizations and to facilitate the development of such projects.

APCO Australasia’s Director of International Business Development and Strategy Geoff Spring said, “The partnership between APCO and the University of Melbourne marks a further step towards building the global research capability the public safety communications sector needs to capture the technical, operational and spatial benefits of next generation, mission critical broadband communications and provide personal development and career pathways for people working in this sector.”

“The collaboration between the APCO Partners and the University of Melbourne sees the partnership approach between higher education research and practitioners developing to provide a truly global perspective to the benefit of all our diverse communities,” said David Williams, APCO Australasia’s Director and Past President.

“British APCO is delighted to support the launch of this partnership,” said Sue Lampard, President of British APCO. “Training is an essential part of delivering effective public safety operations and often technical communication aspects are limited as far as input – or sometimes missed completely. I hope this will be the start of what could become a truly global initiative in enhancing knowledge of senior staff involved with public protection and disaster management.”