First respondersNext-generation technology for first responders: intuitive, instinctive, and interoperable

At last week’s Wearables + Things technology conference, Robert Griffin, the new deputy undersecretary for DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) shared the department’s vision for a new age of first responders, noting that S&T will soon release a five-point vision which will enable first responders and their technology to be more intuitive, instinctive, and interoperable. According to Fedscoop, DHS plans to spend the next three to five years leveraging commercially available wearable technology to improve how first responders operate in emergencies. “What we’re looking for is not government-off-the-shelf products, but commercial-off-the-shelf products,” Griffin said. “What wearable technology can we adapt that already exists to realize the dream we laid out.”

Griffin, a former fire chief, understands the needs of first responders and will rely on his experiences and conversations with state and local governments as well as the private sector to develop the new generation of wearables for public safety.

On 17 November, S&T will launch a program to develop a Next-Generation First Responder suit that incorporates wearables, the Internet, and cellular connectivity, along with multiple environmental and biological sensors to help firefighters, law enforcement, and aid workers, better perform their jobs safely. Using Ideascale, a crowdsourcing platform, DHS will rely on inputs from the private sector and the public throughout the developmental phase of the suit. “We’re going to try and take multiple approaches because one size doesn’t fit all,” Griffin said. “(Ideascale) is a better way to crowdsource some of these ideas, particularly where some of these areas can get pretty down into the weeds. This is part of what we are trying to do to be more transparent but also to begin a process of engaging industry and users and begin to think about the operators.”

DHS’s wearables initiative is part of the department’s larger vision to integrate new technology into public safety. The Homeland Security News Wire recently reported on DHS’s outfitting of Border Patrol canines with wearable electronics. Thousands of border agents are currently outfitted with smart wrist-watches, wearable cameras, and clothing equipped with health and safety sensors capable of monitoring body temperatures and stress levels. “The long-term vision is that fully aware, fully connected, fully integrated responder,” Griffin says. “We recognize that it could take us 20 to 30 years, maybe longer to get there. It’s not just a technology issue, it’s usage, it’s operating procedures, it’s governance, training. It’s part of the whole continuum we need to think about.”