Event Round Up: Fire Innovation Forum

Event Round Up: Fire Innovation Forum – Drones

We were pleased to host our fifth Fire Innovation Forum session with a focus on drones' application in fire and rescue services.

Steve Beakhust and Gillian Fyfe, National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) welcomed attendees with an overview of the Council’s Digital, Data and Technology objectives. Within their strategy and roadmap, the NFCC recognise the importance of partnerships in achieving their innovation goals, as they continue to explore the benefits of emerging technology to the sector.

Tim Morell, the National Drone Lead, NFCC, gave a presentation on the current landscape, including the national capabilities of the different drones used by services. Drones are beneficial for increasing situational awareness, providing a new perspective for thermal imaging camera, creating detailed incident maps through photogrammetry, and reducing risk to front line officers for their ability to enter hazardous areas. Through such abilities, officers now are able to attain visibility to sub surface incidents and send firefighting robots as a first responder.

Take a look at the slides here.

AI is being explored in fire detection and victim identification with the ambition to improve response effectiveness, with ambitions for it to enhance the accuracy and speed of locating victims and identifying hazards.

With that said, there are several challenges that limit the role that drones can play in the fire and rescue sector. As models vary in resilience it can impair their ability to act as a first responder.

David Hodges, Avon Fire and Rescue, shared his experience leading a pilot on underwater drones (ROV’s) for search and rescue incidents. The results of this highlighted the use of sonar technology for improving the success of rescue operations, as it allows victims to be located in turbulent waters where visibility is low. His research also highlighted the importance of rapid deployment for drones for successful retrieval.

You can find the slides here.

Amongst the open discussion, the group considered what are the areas for improvement for better collaboration between industry and the fire services. A key area for development is the incorporation of traditional firefighting methods into the design of technology. To benefit from the different perspectives and to mitigate the budget constraints of services, partnerships are encouraged to ensure the vision of the NFCC Strategy and Roadmap is incorporated to the early stages of technology development.

If you want to know more about previous forum sessions, you can find the links below:

21 May 2024

Event Round Up: Fire Innovation Forum Launch Event

May 2024 techUK launched its Fire Innovation Forum. We were joined for this kick off meeting by representatives from the National Fire Chiefs Council’s (NFCC) including; Steve Beakhurst, Steve Taylor, Claire Chambers, and Gillian Fyfe. During the session, attendees gained insight into the infrastructure and challenges of NFCC and their Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) ambitions.

Event round-up

27 Aug 2024

Event Roundup: Fire Innovation Forum | Session 2

Following the success of our launch back in May, this July we were delighted to welcome back the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) for our second meeting. We were joined by NFCC representatives Steve Beakhurst, Steve Taylor, Gillian Fyfe and many of our techUK members across the Justice and Emergency Services and Cyber Programmes.

Event round-up

19 Nov 2024

Event Round Up: Fire Innovation Forum – Procurement

In October 2024 we hosted our third Fire Innovation Forum meeting focusing on procurement, and we were delighted to be joined by representatives from 10 fire and rescue services, including representatives from the National Fire Chiefs’ Council (NFCC) and Blue Light Commercial (BLC) .

Event round-up

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06 Feb 2025

Event Roundup: Fire Innovation Forum – Data

Under techUK’s MoU with the National Fire Chiefs’ Council (NFCC) we were delighted to kick off the forum’s activity for 2025 with the fourth session, focusing on data. We were joined by NFCC DDaT representatives Steve Beakhust, Gillian Fyfe and Steve Taylor, who gave an overview of the challenges and opportunities of data quality, usage, collection and sharing within the fire and rescue services.

Event round-up

Justice and Emergency Services Programme activities

The techUK Justice and Emergency Services Programme represents tech firms operating in the public safety, criminal justice, and blue light markets. We create strong relationships between members and public sector customers, encouraging industry engagement, and unlocking innovation. Visit the programme page here.