Creating safer schools? Understanding the architecture and implementation of the Cosafe app

In the past years, several incidents and school attacks in Swedish schools have created increased concern about safety among school staff, parents and pupils. Several municipalities in Sweden have signed agreements with the tech company Cosafe Technology AB, a private company that provides, maintains and operates the alarm app Cosafe for schools. The app is used to raise alarms, send messages and notify if an incident has occurred, e.g., fire, housing as well as threats and acts of violence, for example ongoing deadly violence. SOS Alarm, the police and the fire department can be contacted through this app. Schools and preschools are sites of great significance for everyday life for the majority of citizens. For students, schools should be a safe and secure place, and safety in schools is a top priority for citizens as well as crisis management agencies and authorities. This case study investigates the ongoing process of how the Cosafe app works, how it is maintained and operated, and how users experience the system. What are the possibilities and challenges of scaling up this app for use in other types of crisis management? How do different stakeholders perceive the alarm app? Is the app considered effective by emergency response agencies that receive information from Cosafe, such as the police, fire department and ambulance service? How is the Cosafe system integrated with emergency management in general? Do parents know about the app, and how do they perceive it?