Emergency management of tomorrow: Emerging technologies and concepts
The future of emergency management (EM) is changing fast – and so is the science and technology to protect it. More frequent and intense disasters put pressure on emergency managers and emergency operations centers (EOCs) to share and analyze data faster than ever before and with more reliability and defensibility. In an era of technology innovation, emerging and advanced capabilities like artificial intelligence (AI) can enable better and faster decision-making that saves lives.
However, with new technology comes new challenges. The path to new solutions – even the first step to explore what is on the market – can be overwhelming. Further, no single entity coordinates and disseminates new or breakthrough EM research. Addressing this gap requires a well-articulated vision, a coordinated research program, and strategic investments. A project launched in 2023 with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is helping sift through the expansive landscape of emerging technology, and EM needs to prioritize research and development requirements and inform future investments for EM.
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Through these structured engagements, EM practitioners of all backgrounds and jurisdictions shared perspectives on EM-related technologies and operations, how they are evolving, and how they might impact the homeland security enterprise. The analysis of these EM R&D needs and priorities highlighted areas of research underrepresented in the current research ecosystem that are fit for EM community coordination. In particular, the following were recurring concerns and interests:
- Technology and technical capabilities – EOCs must harness real-time data streams from various sources (e.g., sensors, social media, satellite imagery) to enhance situational awareness and facilitate rapid decision-making.
- Structure and organization – EM must balance hybrid operations and overcome challenges in interoperability, flexibility, and scalability.
- Policy and operations – Information sharing, resource management, and situational awareness are a priority but face policy, funding, privacy, and trust barriers.
- Research and development – Human-centric R&D can explore balancing the psychological impacts of high-stress environments and decision-making with AI tools.
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