Summary Bullets:

• Though just 12% of public safety workers currently use AI everyday, 46% anticipate it will become part of their daily work by 2030.

• With an increasing emphasis on using network-dependent technologies like connected cars and drones, network reliability – or the lack thereof – is the top concern of 67% of those surveyed.

As essential as first responders are, public safety officials aren’t necessarily known for deploying leading-edge technology. But results from the fifth annual Verizon Frontline Public Safety Communications Survey suggest this may be changing. The survey results of 1,028 first responders – i.e., EMS, fire, police, emergency management, public safety, and emergency communications workers – find that while advanced technologies like AI and drones are broadly used today, they expect wider implementation through 2030.

While today, only 35% have implemented AI-driven applications in their agencies, 20% are investigating the technology for future use. Seventy-one percent (71%) described AI as either important or a top priority for their organizations, with 22% calling it the latter.

Today, 84% rely on smartphones during emergency response operations. Thirty percent (30%) use drones to provide visual support during emergency response maneuvers. Though currently, drones are only part of daily operations for 15% of the organizations surveyed, and that figure is expected to soar by 2030 to 48%. Wearables including body cameras, which are part of daily operations in 28% of organizations now, will jump to 50% by 2030. Other advanced technology will play more prominent roles in daily work in the coming years, including augmented and virtual reality applications, which currently are only part of daily operations in 8% of agencies, but they will be adopted by a third of first responder organizations by 2030.

All of this underscores the importance of the stability and service quality of the underlying communications network. Seventy-five percent (75%) say a reliable and resilient communications network is the most important element to day-to-day professional communications. Seventy-three percent (73%) cite it as most essential during emergency operations.

Cybersecurity is an important component of network continuity and productivity. More than two-thirds – i.e., 67% – of first responder organizations have deployed new cybersecurity protections in the last twelve months.

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of respondents cite better communications in the field as the biggest payoff of access to a reliable network, nearly double any other benefit, including better situational awareness (46%) and improved response time (45%).