Theatre B - Technology: Practical, Hands-on, Showcase

In emergency response, an individual's judgement is often their most vital asset, yet it is also the most vulnerable to stress and cognitive overload. This panel explores how having the right information can streamline smart decision-making and avoid the pitfalls of emotion-led responses.

The session examines how digital tools act as a cognitive anchor during times of extreme pressure. The panel reviews this through the lens of a high-stakes, multi-agency operation in Manchester, discussing how a Common Operating Picture maintains clarity, reduces mental fatigue, and ensures seamless interoperability during critical operations.

Learning Objectives:
Learn how unified data platforms prevent cognitive overload during complex incidents.  

Understand how emotion and stress influence command decisions and how to mitigate their impact.
Explore how shared situational awareness facilitates rapid, multi-agency responses.

Drones are becoming an essential tool across the Public Safety community globally, delivering rapid situational awareness, improving responder safety, and enabling more informed incident management. To move from limited deployments to routine, scalable operations, public safety agencies must be able to operate drones safely beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), supported by trusted and resilient communications.

This session examines the role of mission-critical 5G as the key enabler for assured DFR operations. Secure, prioritised 5G connectivity supports real-time video, command and control, and integration with existing public safety communications, while addressing regulatory requirements and public trust. Drawing on real-world deployments with front-line public safety agencies and engagement with global regulators and standards bodies, the presentation will share practical lessons for adopting DFR at scale.

Positioning DFR as a foundation for future aerial public safety capabilities, the session will also highlight how today’s connectivity decisions prepare organisations for the next phase of emergency response, aligning with BAPCO’s mission to advance interoperable, resilient public safety communications

The convergence of TETRA and broadband/satellite technologies unlocks substantial benefits for the end-user. This approach not only provides better coverage, extended mobility, and extra capacity, but it allows users and organizations to build real-world expertise with broadband and satellite communications. We will explore practical case studies of this convergence and discuss the new possibilities it creates.

Modern software-defined radio systems are enabling new multi-bearer modes of operation, where voice and data can be routed across 4G, 5G, satellite, WiFi, or dedicated radio networks- either simultaneously or dynamically based on performance, resilience, and cost. Drawing on recent integration work for Search and Rescue applications, Nova Systems’ experts will examine what these advances make possible for future emergency communications, and the considerations involved in testing and deploying such systems safely and effectively. This emerging capability has significant potential to enhance interoperability, coverage and operational flexibility.

The session will introduce a rapidly developing technological area that will require support across the sector to realise its full impact on public safety, security, and life-saving operations.

This presentation explores the latest updates from early AI adoptors in related vertical markets and explores how AI is making its way into Mission-critical environments and control rooms. We will briefly explore:

• How AI is being embraced by various early adoptors in the past 12 months.
• We take a look at how related vertical markets are implementing, responding and changing how they do things in each vertical.
• What is the user perception and feedback of AI integrated sub-systems to date and why it is important for the immediate future.
• A specific section on how we at Eventide Communications are evolving our AI platform for Mission-critical communications and why we are doing it.

In complex environments where traditional communications fail, Mobile Ad-Hoc Networking (MANET) creates a self-forming, self-healing "tactical bubble" to connect every operational asset. This session will explore how MANET technology, brought to you by the strategic combination of Motorola Solutions and Silvus Technologies, delivers resilient, high-bandwidth communications for frontline teams. We will use real-world case studies from US law enforcement agencies to demonstrate how this technology provides real-time video, location, and voice data, ensuring seamless collaboration and shared situational awareness for better outcomes in any environment. The audience will learn practical strategies for deploying infrastructure-less networks and unifying command and control across multi-agency partners.

In the fast-paced world of critical communications, every second counts. Operators face thousands of small, and sometimes large, repetitive tasks during each call. Tasks that not only drain valuable time but also add to the pressure of decision-making in high-stress environments. This presentation introduces the concept of purposeful automation, seamlessly integrated into modern command and control systems through configurable business rules and AI-driven solutions. Unlike outdated, rigid CAD systems, which often lack the flexibility to adapt to today’s demands, modern automation tools allow organisations to configure and customise business rules tailored to their unique needs. Paired with AI Agents designed to handle complex automation tasks, these solutions work intuitively within the operator’s workflow, removing the burden of repetitive tasks and freeing up time for what truly matters. By identifying and automating these micro-tasks with configurable business rules and AI-driven solutions, organisations can achieve transformational efficiency gains, saving seconds, if not minutes, per call that add up to significant time savings over the course of a year. This approach not only improves operational performance but also reduces stress on operators, empowering them to work smarter and more effectively. For the critical communications industry, this marks a shift towards systems that are not just tools, but true partners in delivering better outcomes when it matters most.

Connectivity failures remain a critical challenge for emergency services. Basements, tunnels, high-rises, rural terrain and large-scale incidents routinely create coverage gaps where radios fail, data stops flowing and commanders lose situational awareness. ESN will deliver major improvements, but no national network can guarantee coverage everywhere.

This session demonstrates how lightweight digital on-scene networks can close those gaps from the first minute of an incident. Drawing on proven deployments in defence and now adapted for Fire and Rescue, we’ll show how portable systems create instant secure networks, provide seamless failover across ESN, LTE, Wi-Fi, satcom, Bluetooth and LoRaWAN, and automatically connect radios, sensors and applications without user intervention.

The result: Faster, safer, and more coordinated response. Crews stay connected, commanders retain a live operational picture, and agencies gain a practical, future-proof approach to resilience when national networks reach their limits.

As public safety and emergency services grow more reliant on interconnected digital systems, cybersecurity and digital identity now sit at the core of operational resilience. Modern threats increasingly target the identity layer, where a single breach can expose highly sensitive environments. Biometric and digital identity solutions offer secure, real-time authentication across frontline and command operations, but only when supported by a strong cyber framework.

This discussion is increasingly critical for UK public safety organisations, where identity assurance now underpins secure access, field verification and protection against insider or social-engineering threats. Trust has to be built into the system itself - starting with secure digital identity.

This session has been run for the past 3 years at BAPCO and concentrates on the biggest change to the UKs Telecommunications network for a generation. The All-IP (PSTN Switch-Off) programme started in 2018 and culminates in the switch off of the BT equipment that was installed in the 1980s and is now seriously out of date and hard to maintain. The slot explores the last 230 days of the programme and the switch off at the end of January 2027, when the last PSTN lines will be terminated. It also highlights the work Openreach have done with Industry, including blue light services for the past 5 years and the migration choices that Openreach’s 690 Communications Providers have available for a safe migration, including the over 20M FTTP full fibre lines that are at the cutting edge of Broadband Servicesk taking the UK into the future.