By Battalion Chief Scott Roseberry
Departments are being asked to do more with fewer resources, to respond faster, operate safer, and justify every dollar they spend. No matter their size, departments are finding ways to think outside the box to solve modern-day problems, often with little or no money.
Innovation is the tool — and mindset — that primes us to navigate these challenges and potential solutions. It is the cornerstone of the future of the fire service.
TSI spotlights innovative departments
The IAFC’s Technology Summit International (TSI), held each December in Irving, Texas, was created to bridge the gap between cutting-edge innovation and practical fireground usage. Our goal has never been technology for technology’s sake. We strive to educate the fire service on the tools available today while also helping vendors better understand real-world fire service problems so they can build solutions that actually matter.
In an effort to tell those stories, the IAFC Technology Council launched the TSI/IDEX Innovation Award. Departments are nominated and selected to present on stage how their innovation has helped move their organization forward in an increasingly technology-driven world. The intent is not to showcase perfection but rather progress, real solutions developed by real departments facing real constraints.
We’ve seen departments partner with academia to create AI-monitored cameras. We’ve seen departments build their own incident command simulators. Others have adopted data analytics to improve service delivery and better understand their communities. We’ve seen counties unify multiple agencies through shared public safety data systems, reducing costs while increasing effectiveness and interoperability. We’ve also seen departments take significant steps forward using technology to monitor firefighter health and wellness, allowing leaders to react earlier instead of after something goes wrong.
This year’s winner, the Oklahoma City Fire Department, demonstrated one of the most important lessons of all: Innovation does not always require new funding. They leveraged a tool they already had, Microsoft 365, to improve department-wide communication and reporting systems. The real winners, however, are not the departments on stage; they are the audience members who see what others are accomplishing and return home realizing, we can do this too.
Common factors for innovation
Through conversations with departments from California to Maine, clear patterns have emerged. Truly innovative departments share several common elements and approaches, regardless of size, staffing or budget.
- Leadership. For a department to be innovative, the fire chief must be a humble leader, open to ideas from within the organization and confident enough to lead without ego. The best ideas rarely come from the command staff conference room. They come from the men and women on the street doing the job every day. They are closest to the friction points, inefficiencies and safety gaps. If your people are not bringing forward ideas, leaders should take a hard look in the mirror and ask whether they have created an environment where those ideas feel safe to share.
- Culture. Innovative departments have an intentionally supportive culture. It is not only OK to fail, it’s expected. That does not mean recklessness or lack of accountability. It means understanding that innovation involves uncertainty. Thomas Edison famously said, “I didn’t fail 999 times trying to make a light bulb; I found 999 ways not to make a light bulb.” Innovative departments operate under the same mindset. Failure without learning is unacceptable, but failure in pursuit of improvement is essential.
- Questions. Innovative departments question everything, and then question again. They want to understand problems at the root, not just treat symptoms. “Because we’ve always done it that way” is not an acceptable answer. These departments take the time to truly understand the problem before jumping to a solution, and once they do, they are willing to look outside traditional fire service thinking to solve it.
- Mindset. Innovative departments are also deliberate about what they are trying to accomplish. They perform a needs analysis. They clearly identify the gap they are trying to fill and align their efforts with their strategic plan and departmental priorities. They assign teams (not committees) with defined goals, authority and accountability, then they get out of their way and let them work. They protect the mission of the project and do not allow scope creep or distractions to derail the effort.
- Partnerships. Innovative departments are willing to partner with outside agencies, from academia to private industry. This is where some of the most meaningful innovation occurs. It forces departments to look outside their silos and see how other industries are solving similar problems, or to invite others to help solve ours. This diversity of thought and approach is often the difference between incremental improvement and real progress.
- Testing. Innovative departments test small ideas before scaling up. They pilot solutions, gather feedback from the people who actually use them, and make adjustments before rolling anything out department-wide. This reduces risk, preserves trust and maintains buy-in across the organization. When members see leadership listening and adapting, they become more willing to engage the next time.
Final thoughts
Some departments will succeed at innovation. Others will struggle, and some will fail. That is not a criticism, it’s reality. Not every department is ready or capable of innovation.
At the end of the day, innovation is driven by leadership, not technology. Technology may be the enabler, but leadership is the engine. When leaders create the right culture, ask the right questions, and apply disciplined problem-solving, innovation becomes routine rather than rare and that is what will carry the fire service into the future.
About the author
Scott Roseberry is a battalion chief with the Garland (Texas) Fire Department. He has a bachelor’s degree in emergency management and a master’s degree in public administration. Roseberry holds the designations of Executive Fire Officer, Certified Public Manager, Chief Fire Officer, Fire Service Chief Executive Officer and Chief Fire Executive. He is the chairperson of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Technology Council and a member of the FEMA Region 6 Regional Advisory Council and serves on the Department of Homeland Security First Responder Resource Group. Roseberry is a frequent presenter at the IAFC’s Fire-Rescue International and Technology Summit International.
