LYON, France -- Tanzania has become the first INTERPOL member country to connect by satellite to the organization's state-of-the-art global police communication system known as I-24/7. This satellite connection, which is the first of 43 planned for the sub-Saharan African region, will provide Tanzanian police with direct access to INTERPOL databases relating to international criminals, stolen travel documents, stolen vehicles, fingerprints, DNA and other crucial information.
I-24/7 also provides Tanzania with a secure electronic information exchange system restricted exclusively to the member countries that make up the INTERPOL community.
Operating over the Internet on a highly secure encrypted virtual private network, I-24/7 is revolutionizing police communication throughout the world. However, due to the nature of the telecommunications infrastructure in the African region, INTERPOL is supporting the investment and operating costs for satellite connections as well as the necessary computer and office equipment to access the system.
INTERPOL is committed to ensuring that no member country is excluded from INTERPOL services for financial or technical reasons and has contracted with several private sector companies to provide its National Central Bureaus in Africa with this sophisticated satellite connection to I-24/7.
'Providing African police forces with a state of the art satellite communications system was affirmed at our recent General Assembly meeting and is a fundamental priority for INTERPOL,' said Secretary General Ronald K. Noble. 'African criminal and terrorist groups, like terrorist groups in other parts of the world, are becoming more sophisticated and Tanzania's satellite connection to I-24/7 is an essential step in helping its police forces fight terrorism and other serious international crime.'
Global security can only be enhanced if all countries have access to the full range of police communication services provided by INTERPOL. African law enforcement agencies must also be able to collaborate effectively with one another and with agencies elsewhere across the globe. INTERPOL's I-24/7 system is the only policing tool that enables them to do this.
The I-24/7 system replaces INTERPOL's older electronic police communications network known as X-400. Since the I-24/7 technology was introduced in 2002, more than 125 countries have been connected and work is underway to connect all remaining member countries as soon as possible.