You can’t see, touch, or hear them, but many of the technologies moving the world forward today are as transformative as they are intangible. Two of those, artificial intelligence (AI) and the cloud, allow the global community to communicate, live, learn, and work in ways we couldn’t have imagined a decade ago.
Because of their autonomous capabilities and resilience, AI and cloud environments are playing increasingly prominent roles in public safety.
We recently conducted a survey asking public safety professionals about their agencies’ current technology usage and plans for the future. We compiled and analyzed the answers in a new research brief, “Technology & its use in public safety organizations.”
Two standout trends from the survey results are the increasing confidence in and usage of cloud and AI technologies.
Confidence in the cloud on the rise
More than half (54%) of those surveyed said their organizations use some form of cloud-hosted technologies, while 78% said they would use cloud technologies in the future.
Why the boost of confidence in the cloud? The cloud offers unmatched reliability and quick scalability in emergency situations. It also offers world-class security and the ability to access data and applications from virtually anywhere. Just as importantly, cloud providers handle all IT-related administration, improving efficiency and reducing operational costs for organizations worldwide.
While the cloud offers numerous public safety benefits, it may not be ideal for everyone. Organizations not ready to fully embrace the cloud might be more comfortable with an on-premises approach or even a hybrid model. Those who are unsure can answer five simple questions to determine what would work best for them.
AI is gaining momentum
AI-based technologies aren’t yet common in the public safety industry, but expect that to change. Our brief shows 81% of respondents believe AI is somewhat, very, or extremely important to their respective organizations. Only 2% of those surveyed view AI as not important.
When you consider AI’s benefits to public safety, it would be hard to dismiss it as a hollow concept. Uses of AI, as indicated by respondents, include:
- Voice recognition
- Public security
- Trend identification
- Automation of manual tasks
- Image / video analysis
As AI technologies emerge and evolve, they are expected to provide numerous benefits to communities and public safety workers, including helping to identify costly and damaging events as they unfold, reducing stress on public safety answering point (PSAP) employees, and more.
Pieces of a larger puzzle
There’s little doubt the influence and capabilities of the cloud and AI will only continue to grow. As more organizations transition to Next Generation 9-1-1 / 112, public safety leaders will become more aware of the benefits of these technologies because they are simply pieces of a larger public safety puzzle.
Working together, public safety technologies, including AI and the cloud, support efficient incident response and resolution through greater situational awareness and increased collaboration.
Learn more
To learn more about how public safety professionals view AI, the cloud, and other technologies, download “Technology & its use in public safety organizations.”
