New Board member for TCCA – Steve Whatson to represent UK Home Office
04 October 2018: Steve Whatson has joined the Board of TCCA, representing the UK Home Office. Steve is the Product Director for the new Emergency Services Network (ESN) Air and ESN Prime+, including Device to Device, in the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP), the Home Office based team leading the delivery of the world’s first ‘second generation’ integrated critical communications system.
Steve joined the Home Office in January 2014 as Deputy Director on the ESMCP in charge of the Technical Solutions area, responsible for the delivery of the User Services and Mobile Services and dependent programmes including Crossrail and London Underground, and latterly was in charge of User Engagement.
“We are very pleased to welcome Steve to the Board, and look forward to his unique experience and insight contributing much to the future development of TCCA,” said Mladen Vratonjić, TCCA Board Chair. “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Steve’s predecessor on the Board, Ari Toivonen from the Home Office, who served us well and was an invaluable member of our team.”
Steve joined the Home Office from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) where he managed the ICT security for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the UK’s largest ever-peacetime mobilisation of police officers. Under Steve’s management, ICT security was delivered ahead of schedule and to budget.
After the Games, Steve continued to manage the MPS’ largest ICT projects, amounting to a value of £80 million per year. These included leading the replacement of the UK’s largest emergency services call handling system, driving the MPS’ mobility programme and replacing the MPS’ many legacy operational systems with a single solution.
Steve has more than 20 years’ experience in IT, is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and a visiting lecturer at Leeds University Business School.
TCCA’s Board comprises: Mladen Vratonjić (Chair), Independent; Dr Barbara Held (Vice Chair), BDBOS Germany; Tero Pesonen, Suomen Virveverkko Oy; Francesco Pasquali, Leonardo; Jason Johur, Ericsson; Philippe Agard, Nokia; Jeppe Jepsen, Motorola Solutions; Ali Helenius, Airbus Defence & Space; Steve Whatson, UK Home Office.
About TCCA
TCCA represents all standard mobile critical communications technologies and complementary applications. Our Members are drawn from end users, operators and industry across the globe. We believe in and promote the principle of open and competitive markets worldwide through the use of open standards and harmonised spectrum. We maintain and enhance the TETRA Professional Mobile Radio (PMR) standard, and drive the development of common global mobile standards for critical broadband. TCCA is a 3GPP Market Representation Partner and a member of the Mission Critical Open Platform (MCOP) project, and our Members actively contribute in 3GPP working groups. To find out more, please visit www.tcca.info
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