techUK's InterOp-Pol Initiative

techUK is delighted to announce the following individuals have been awarded a place on the Justice & Emergency Services Programmes ‘InterOp-Pol’ Working group – looking at interoperability across policing. Huge congratulations to the following individuals and we thoroughly look forward to working with you as we move into the new year.

• Steve Norris, Police Market Director, Salesforce
• Andrews Inwards, Policing and Public Protection CTO at Fujitsu
• Nathalie Lester, Business Development Manager, Police Lead at Leidos UK Ltd
• Sharad Rathi, Police Sector Lead, HCL Technologies
• Phillip Ridley, Senior Business Development Consultant, 1Spatial
• Clare Elford, Managing Director, Clue Investigation Software
• Kevin McDonald, Managing Director & Chairman, Panoptech

  This means that the InterOp-Pol WG is now 12 people - the seven above, plus:

• Neil Beet, National Security & Public Safety Technology Expert, AWS (Chair)
• Robert Leach, Director, R Leach Consulting (Vice-Chair)
• Brendan Johnson – Chair, National Standards Assurance Board, Police ICT Co
• Teresa Ashforth, Data Quality & Standards Lead OCiP (NPCC Data Quality Programme)
• John Owen - CTO, Police & Public Protection Technology, Home Office

We are also pleased to report that Jo Farrell, Chief Constable at Durham, and NPCC Lead on Data Quality, has agreed to be SRO (Senior Responsible Officer) for the work of the techUK Interoperability Working Group (i.e. InterOp-Pol).  Jo had previously agreed to be SRO for the Standards work overseen by the National Standards Assurance Board (chaired by the ICT Company’s Brendan Johnson) in addition to her Data Quality SRO role.  With the three groups (Interoperability, Standards and Data Quality) now each including representatives of the other two in their leadership teams, Jo’s agreement to this acknowledges the relevance each group has to the other two, and cements the fact that data quality, data & technical standards and interoperability are fundamental to achieving the ambition set out in the National Policing Digital Strategy which, in turn, will support the delivery of the Policing Vision 2025

techUK’s Justice & Emergency Services (JES) Conference 2020

We do hope you were able to join us on Thursday 26 November for the JES Conference, which included a breakout session looking at interoperability across policing and the role of the working group. In total, over 70 attended this particular breakout session where we heard from Jo Farrell, Teresa Ashforth and Brendan Johnson. Not only this, but we also had over 180 attendees join the conference to hear from a range of speakers from Police ICT Company and NEP to INTERPOL, all of whom highlighted the importance of interoperability and the achievements to date – and to be made - through this working group. From our breakout session, we just wanted to highlight the following three takeaways from the session:

1. The panellists concurred that Standards, Data Quality and Interoperability are – together – important to the successful laying of foundations for the delivery of the National Policing Data & Technology Strategy.
2. In a first for techUK (certainly in the Public Sector), a techUK Working Group has included in its membership senior representatives of Policing and the Home Office who will work alongside industry on Interoperability
3. What is needed (at some point – but soon!) is the identification of a Policing Technology challenge which so far has not been resolved where, through using agreed technical and data quality standards, alongside seamless “multi-point” interoperability between several suppliers’ systems, the desired outcome is delivered - which was not possible otherwise.

We look forward to not only running our working group sessions, but also to bringing the wider interoperability supplier community together in regular quarterly updates.  These will not be just for reporting InterOp-Pol activity and progress - but standards and data quality will be included in these updates (which will be attended by the Home Office too). If you are interested in being on the ‘wider interoperability supplier community’ mailing list, please reach out to Georgie using the contact details below.

Georgie Morgan

Head of Justice and Emergency Services | Fraud and Economic Crime Lead, techUK

Georgie joined techUK as the Justice and Emergency Services (JES) Programme Manager in March 2020, progressing to Head of Programme in January 2022. Her portfolio then expanded in January 2024 where she now leads our work across fraud and economic crime. 

In her current role, Georgie leads techUK’s engagement and initiatives across the blue light and criminal justice sectors. She works closely with industry and stakeholders to drive innovation, address challenges, and anticipate future needs, while showcasing the critical role technology plays in delivering essential public safety and justice services. Through the JES programme, she provides a platform for suppliers, helping them navigate and establish themselves in the blue light and criminal justice markets.

Before joining techUK, Georgie spent four and a half years managing a Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) in Westminster. Collaborating with the Metropolitan Police and local councils, she focused on mitigating the impact of crime on the business community. Her efforts spanned addressing low-level street crime and anti-social behavior to managing critical incidents and violent crime.

Email:

[email protected]

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgie-henley/

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