MCSC and RCMP Highlight Technological Innovations at International Event in Athens
The Missing Children Society of Canada (MCSC) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) made a significant impact at an International Hybrid Event hosted by the National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children and The Smile of the Child in Athens, Greece. The event focused on best practices in managing cases of missing and exploited children, showcasing the innovative use of technology in these efforts.
A presentation by Amanda Pick, CEO of MCSC, and Sgt. Lana Prosper from the RCMP's National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains (NCMPUR) emphasized the unique and effective collaboration between MCSC and law enforcement agencies in Canada.
"We are a very unique partnership and it was created specifically to move forward the issue of missing children within Canada and how we can better answer to those investigations that we enter into." said Sgt. Prosper. "Because of that we've been able to be a voice with Amanda's group and developing technologies that work for all of Canada and that I think has led it to be able to be used for all of the world as well."
Amanda Pick later added, "We're not just talking about different platforms of technology, really what the theme is about the network of networks and not just in a country but globally. Through the partnerships that we have through the Global Missing Children's Network, we're able to harness the best of technology, the best of all of our efforts, to enable a best practice not just for our own communities and countries, but globally."
The discussion also explored how these technological advancements could be expanded to support the search for all missing vulnerable people, beyond children. The scalable nature of these systems offers hope for broader applications in safeguarding vulnerable individuals of all ages and backgrounds.
Other key speakers at the event included:
- Costas Yannopoulos, President of the Bod, The Smile of the Child, Greece
- Michelle DeLaune, President & CEO, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, USA
- Piki Protopsaltis, International Cooperation Coordinator, The Smile of the Child, Greece
- Antonis Tsiboukis, Managing Director, Cisco, Greece Cyprus Malta
- International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (USA)
- Federation of Internet Alerts (USA)
- Tech Lab Bode Technology (USA)
- Cellebrite
- Tremau (France)
- Videntifier (Iceland)
- AviaTor project (The Netherlands)
- Missing Children Europe (Belgium)
- Meta (USA)