In an earlier post, we shared a few of our favorite public safety and national security events from the past 12 months. Now, as we celebrate our first year of blogging here at On Safety and Defense, we'd like to spotlight a few more of the exciting events that made us proud to be working together for safer societies:

• It's a Windows 8 World: What the New OS Means for Public Safety and National Defense Organizations
  The October launch of the new Windows 8 operating system marked seminal changes in improved data security, lower total cost of ownership, and increased mobility for public safety and national security organizations. We can't wait to see all the ways agencies use this breakthrough technology to live and work more productively, all around the world.

• How big is big data - and what can we do with it?
  This in-depth overview of the challenges, impact and possibilities of big data shows how strategic solutions can help national security organizations produce actionable insights from structured and unstructured data, including unprecedented amounts of new information now collected through social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

• And the 2012 Public Safety & National Security Partner of the Year is...
  We loved the chance to spotlight our amazing partner iLink Systems for their support of the EPIC Situational Awareness Solution, which drives the disaster response operations for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the world's largest humanitarian organization.

• Protecting domestic violence victims through technology: Dynamics CRM supports the Generalitat of Catalonia, Spain
  This fascinating case study shows how the Generalitat of Catalonia's Department of Interior has implemented a system that aims to reduce the number of domestic violence victims in Catalonia by managing reports of domestic violence, offering resources to victims and helping to prevent future attacks.

• Two innovative technology solutions that use social media to improve citizen safety
  Using social media to improve public safety was a hot topic in 2012, so we were excited to share ways that technology helped to enable better collaboration between citizens and their local government departments, fire and rescue, municipal police, health, education, and various voluntary organizations to support safer communities.

We feel honored and humbled to have been a part of this incredible community, and for the chance to share thoughts and ideas with you here. We can't wait to find out what the next year will bring for new innovations, partnerships, challenges and successes!