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Artificial intelligence, drones and resilient communications are rapidly changing the way emergency services respond to incidents, but as new technologies continue to emerge, one thing remains constant – the need to support, rather than replace, frontline decision making.
That is the message from Motorola Solutions ahead of The Emergency Tech Show 2026, where the company will demonstrate how its connected technology ecosystem is helping emergency services make faster, more informed decisions while strengthening resilience across their operations.
Dave Shorland, Sales Director and UK&I Country Manager at Motorola Solutions, believes AI has the potential to make a significant difference to emergency services, particularly as organisations face increasing pressure on resources.
“Emergency personnel operating under immense pressure face a flood of information. AI can help reduce the cognitive load on frontline teams by automating routine tasks and surfacing vital insights in real time, empowering them to respond to critical incidents with greater clarity, speed and confidence.”
Earlier this year, Motorola Solutions launched Assist, its mission-critical AI platform for public safety. Designed specifically for emergency services, Assist brings role-specific intelligence into Motorola’s wider technology ecosystem, making relevant information available from the control room through to responders on the ground.
While AI continues to generate discussion across the sector, particularly around trust and reliability, Shorland says the company’s focus has always been on supporting human judgement rather than replacing it.
“We’re not looking to outsource human decision making. We’re driving innovation that supports, rather than replaces, human judgement and control.”
To help build confidence in its AI capabilities, Motorola Solutions has also introduced AI labels across its public safety and enterprise security portfolio. The labels explain what type of AI is being used, who owns the data being processed, what level of human oversight is involved and the purpose of each AI application, providing greater transparency for users operating in mission-critical environments.
Alongside AI, Motorola Solutions is continuing to develop technology for drones, another area attracting growing interest across public safety.
Shorland points to the increasing use of drones as first responders, where aircraft can often reach incidents ahead of emergency crews to provide live situational awareness.
“In many situations, drones are able to reach a location quicker than any other responder. They can provide eyes on the situation to ensure emergency services have the most accurate picture as they arrive.”
At The Emergency Tech Show, visitors will be able to see Motorola Solutions’ drone control and flight software in action, including capabilities for local and remote piloting, live video streaming and evidence-grade video capture and management.
Communications also remain central to the company’s offering as emergency services prepare for the future of critical communications.
Rather than viewing the transition beyond Airwave as a move from one technology to another, Shorland believes public safety organisations will increasingly rely on multiple complementary technologies working together.
“Public safety is too important to hang on a single technology. Instead it requires the intelligent orchestration of several technologies that provide users with the resilience, redundancy and functionality they need.”
Motorola Solutions’ approach combines the established strengths of TETRA for mission-critical voice with broadband, satellite and MANET mesh radio technologies to create resilient, multi-layered communications. The company recently strengthened these capabilities through its acquisition of Silvus Technologies, adding mesh networking to its portfolio.
Visitors to the stand will also be able to explore devices including the MXP660, which can seamlessly switch between Airwave and cellular broadband using DIMETRA Connect, alongside the LEX L30 mission-critical 5G device, designed to support intuitive push-to-talk communications, messaging and live video in demanding operational environments.
The company’s technology is already supporting emergency services across the UK. One recent example is the Guardian control room deployment across Norfolk, Suffolk and Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Services.
The shared platform enables the three services to jointly manage 999 calls, dispatch resources and coordinate incidents across more than 100 fire stations serving a population of over 2.5 million people, while still allowing each service to operate independently during day-to-day incidents.
For Shorland, projects like this demonstrate how technology can help emergency services maximise limited resources while improving collaboration during major incidents.
Looking ahead to The Emergency Tech Show, Motorola Solutions sees the event as an opportunity not only to demonstrate its latest technology, but also to hear directly from the people using it.
“The Emergency Tech Show is always an important date in our calendar. It’s another opportunity for us to connect with our customers and bring our whole ecosystem together to demonstrate how all the pieces fit together.”
He adds that hearing feedback from end users is equally valuable, helping Motorola Solutions continue to develop technology that meets the evolving needs of emergency services.
Ultimately, the company believes the future of public safety lies in bringing together voice, video, data and analytics into one connected ecosystem that helps responders make better decisions when every second counts.
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The industry will once again be gathering at the NEC, Birmingham for The Emergency Tech Show, co-located with The Emergency Services Show, on 16-17 September, check out the full exhibitor list here. You can find Motorola on stand B80.
