What Leading Agencies Are Doing Differently to Improve Response Readiness
Response readiness is not created during an emergency. It is built long before the call comes in.
Across public safety, leading agencies are beginning to take a more proactive approach to preparing, sharing, and using location information. They are moving beyond the idea that maps are simply reference tools. Instead, they are treating maps, building data, and operational workflows as essential parts of response readiness.
The difference starts with shared information.
In many communities, critical response maps are still kept in separate locations. Dispatch may have one view. Law enforcement may have another. Fire may maintain pre-plans. Schools or facility teams may keep their own building records. When an incident happens, these teams are expected to coordinate quickly, even if the map information they rely on is fragmented and disconnected.
Progressive agencies are working to close that gap.
They are prioritizing shared maps that connect outdoor location, indoor floor plans, access points, room names, responder routes, and critical points of interest. They are looking for ways to make information available across dispatch centers, mobile responder tools, command staff, and partner agencies. They understand that response readiness depends on everyone working from the same operational picture.
Leading agencies are also thinking beyond compliance.
It is important to meet state requirements, grant guidelines, or internal preparedness standards. But the most forward-thinking teams are asking a bigger question: will this information actually help emergency responders make better, faster decisions during an incident?
That question changes the standard.
A map is not ready simply because it exists. It is ready when it is accurate, current, accessible, and useful under pressure. A building record is not enough if it cannot be found quickly. A floor plan is not enough if responders cannot use it in the field. A response plan is not enough if it does not connect to the systems and workflows teams already rely on.
Another pattern is cross-team alignment.
The agencies making meaningful progress are bringing the right people into the conversation early. 9-1-1 leaders, GIS teams, law enforcement, fire, EMS, emergency management, school safety personnel, IT, and local government all have a role to play. Response readiness improves when these groups are aligned on the same maps, goals, and operational use cases.
That alignment helps transform mapping from a technical project into a public safety capability.
Modern response requires more than faster vehicles, better radios, or individual software systems. It requires trusted location intelligence that can move across the response lifecycle from planning and training to call handling and dispatch, to field response and incident command, to recovery, to post-incident analysis and after-action reporting.
Leading agencies are not waiting for the next major incident to expose gaps. They are identifying those gaps now.
They are building shared maps, improving data quality, connecting teams, and modernizing workflows before the pressure is on. That is what response readiness increasingly looks like: not just having information, but making sure it is operationally ready when it matters most.
Technical Signals
Esri introduced the next generation of ArcGIS Survey123, splitting field data collection into two applications. Survey123 Mobile runs on iOS, Android, and Windows, and Survey123 Studio handles desktop form authoring on Windows. Both are built on the current ArcGIS Maps Software Development Kit (SDK) and add tabular repeat editing, QuickCapture point capture inside the survey app, expanded geometry and mapping tools, and Quick Response (QR) code survey launch. Existing XLSForms run without rewrites, and the current and next generation apps operate side by side during the transition.
Flock Safety expanded marketing for Alpha, its United States-built Drone as First Responder (DFR) aircraft, centering the campaign on camera capability. Flock states that Alpha reads a vehicle license plate from up to 2,000 feet and pairs high-definition thermal imaging with low-light optics in a single gimbaled head that combines optical sensors, a thermal sensor, and a laser rangefinder. The company lists a 60 mph top speed, up to 45 minutes of flight time, four cellular modems with 15 antennas, an onboard parachute, and a battery-swapping dock that returns the aircraft to flight in under 90 seconds. Flock designs and assembles Alpha in Atlanta and markets it as compliant with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Esri added a built-in Convert Personal Geodatabase tool in the ArcGIS Pro 3.7 release. The geoprocessing tool converts a personal geodatabase in Microsoft Access (.mdb) format, or an .accdb database, into a file, mobile, or enterprise geodatabase, with the enterprise path running through an Extensible Markup Language (XML) workspace document. The tool preserves feature classes, tables, relationships, domains, and subtypes, and it removes the dependency on ArcMap. It supports personal geodatabases created with ArcGIS Desktop 10.x and later and requires the 64-bit Microsoft Access database engine.
A Center for Internet Security (CIS) report released ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup identifies drones as a proximity-based cyber threat that can carry Wi-Fi exploitation tools, radio frequency (RF) jamming equipment, and rogue access points within meters of venue networks. CIS recommends a layered counter unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) approach beginning with baseline airspace awareness through remote identification sensors and RF detection, and notes that most state and local agencies are limited to detection and tracking while mitigation requires federal authorization. New York State Police plan a drone as first responder pilot during the tournament, supported by $5 million in federal funds.
GIS Policy & Standards Watch
The Oregon Department of Emergency Management announced that it is implementing Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) statewide through a partnership with Lumen Technologies and Intrado to deliver Next Generation Core Services (NGCS) across all 36 counties and 40 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). The department has adopted a GIS-centric approach to the transition, focused on developing and standardizing the geospatial data that supports NGCS call routing and location validation, and it tracks readiness through the Oregon NG9-1-1 GIS Hub.
The Kansas Legislative Research Department published Briefing Book 2026: Next Generation 911, summarizing the state's NG9-1-1 status for legislators. The briefing describes NG9-1-1 as an Internet Protocol (IP) based system replacing analog 911 infrastructure and recounts that Kansas opted into FirstNet, becoming one of the earliest adopters. It identifies the work involved in the transition, including gathering GIS data, imagery acquisition for the NG9-1-1 system, and incorporating PSAPs into the new architecture.
North Dakota's Vantis network, the first statewide beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) system in the United States, has reduced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) BVLOS waiver timeline within its managed airspace from years to 23 business days. The network is run by the Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Test Site from a Mission and Network Operations Center in Grand Forks and covers more than 5,000 square miles across four service volumes.
Mississippi Senate Bill 2835 created the Mississippi Emergency Communications Authority within the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and assigned it responsibility for the statewide NG9-1-1 transition. The act directs the authority to develop and publish the defined scope, technical standards, and operational requirements for a State NG9-1-1 Plan, and to publish minimum standards, specifications, and requirements for each emergency communications district NG9-1-1 plan by September 30, 2026.
Insight of the Week
e.Republic's 2026 Public Safety Trends Report draws on input from nearly 500 first responders and public safety leaders across the United States and the United Kingdom and identifies five priorities reshaping agency operations. The five cover responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) deployment, cybersecurity as a baseline, data as a daily operational asset, technology's role in workforce retention, and unifying systems across jurisdictions.
Resources & Events
LAPD Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Grant Report (LA City Clerk)
The Los Angeles City Administrative Officer issued a report recommending that the City accept a $9,770,209 Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The grant is the largest C-UAS award to any municipality in California, distributed to the eleven FIFA World Cup 2026 host states. The report describes a ground-based detection and interdiction network, built on three layered tiers that combine passive radio frequency (RF) detection, tuned radar calibrated for small low-altitude objects, and sky-facing cameras that confirm whether a tracked object is a drone. Fixed sensors will anchor two hubs in downtown Los Angeles and at the Mt. Lee communications tower, and mobile trailer units and a response van will deploy to World Cup venues and other Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) gatherings. Read →
Share or Forward
If you liked this edition of The Response Brief, please forward it to someone in your network who would also find value from this newsletter.
