AI Part II
Disclaimer - unlike our last article on AI (our most successful to date with over 2000 page views - thank you!) what you are about to read was not partly written by our guest editor (Prof G P Tee!) Read on and you’ll also see this latest article includes an interview with a bona fide human expert on AI. We ask him about the challenges, opportunities and future of AI in the sector.
As we (and the good professor) outlined in our last blog, Artificial Intelligence can and will play a significant role in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of fire and rescue services around the world. From using predictive analytics to forecast the likelihood of fires occurring in certain areas, to AI enabled drones at wildfires, there are many ways in which AI is already helping the fire service to allocate resources more effectively. Those services embracing this digital landscape are those already being judged highly according to HMICFRS assessment criteria, and are those likely to be looking towards tapping into technology funding just announced by the UK Government of up to £3.5 Billion.
Advancements in AI allied to advancements in technology are already generating new data-driven insights, informing innovations, and inspiring many in the sector to improve the lives of those the FRSs serves. Predictive Analytics are helping fire and rescue services predict the likelihood of fires and emergencies by analyzing historical data and environmental factors. Autonomous Drones equipped with AI can provide real-time aerial views, aiding in search and rescue missions and assessing the extent of a fire. Chatbots and Virtual Assistants are handling non-emergency inquiries and provide information to the public.
There’s nothing artificial about how AI can improve fire engine availability
Is your Service Fit for the Future proof?
Yet AI’s impact on ‘People’ (the third HMICFRS judgment criteria) both within the fire service and outside it is far less certain, as last year’s AI Safety Summit 2023 made emphatically clear. Open AI’s popular, now popularised Large Language Model variant of AI - Chat GPT, has raised awareness, revolutionising AI’s use amongst the masses and on social media. DALL-E 1, 2 & 3, “Professor” Chat GPT and Google’s Gemini genie are all well and true out of the AI bottle.
In this context, services which innovate, invest in their systems, and the skills of their people will reap the benefits. Perhaps Quantum Cognition will unlock the secrets behind human behaviour driving recruitment and retention of On-call firefighters across the world?
Expanded use of SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) is another smart, insightful way to keep our emergency services sustainable, effective, and efficient.
Yet, as the Home Office white paper suggests, services are already at capacity. It proposes what’s required to Reform Our Fire and Rescue Service to boost performance and create extra capacity, data and digital skills, is to inaugurate a Fire Service College. After consensus garnered in public consultation, there now seems to be further fuel to the creation of this college of fire (sorry, just couldn't resist) to make ‘Smarter Uses of Data’ as per the Home Office’s preceding FRS imperative.
So the question remains: Are any of us outside Big Tech really fit for a future in which digital and data revolutions are happening at an almost inconceivable pace? Are the people in your FRS ready for reform? The recent release of Microsoft’s latest AI offering - Co-pilot 365 is soon to be widespread in FRSs. It is an example of how AI can be used in ways which will accelerate data analysis and afford employees means to create powerful presentations driven by findings from data. Are the skills in place to fully understand and use AI driven software like Co-pilot, effectively and safely in your Service?
AI: Advance Insights
AI can make sure the fire service doors are always open
Our first ever blog post and our all research has considered the importance of data and collaboration as one of the multiple significant factors seen to mediate FRS performance, particularly On-call fire engine availability now and in the future. It identified what needs to be done to ensure efficiency, effectiveness and availability (If you haven’t already you can read more here)
Empirical evidence suggests it is essential we use firefighter-friendly software solutions with intuitive interfaces and dashboards to make planning easier and predictions more robust. This is especially true in a context in which On-call fire engine availability is often not simply a matter of recruiting more On-call firefighters, it is a matter of training the right people at the right times, utilising Emergency Response Drivers and Incident Commanders more efficiently and effectively, and working out ways to alert firefighters on an individual basis based on skills and so allow attendance to multiple stations. It can also support sophisticated and smart ways to share staffing resource between nearby fire stations, commonly called clusters, whereby each station may independently have limited resource and skills but collectively can continue to maintain a full service to the public.
For herein lies opportunities to use software, and now increasingly AI-informed software, to get great gains in efficiency. The Sir Ken Knight Review calculated circa 10% efficiency improvements could be achieved by FRSs more effective use of strategic workforce planning software. Our research, and data corroborates the tremendous efficiency gains to be realised by services who make smarter uses of their data to maximise crewing models. The question is: what’s the easiest way to achieve such efficiency gains?
Well, there is already digital and data software at the forefront of achieving what is possible, which is being used in more fire and rescue services in the UK, and across the world, than ever before. Take a look at the video below:
As the video shows, FireServiceRota can do it all: Plan OCFFs availability in the most effective ways whatever your current crewing model, roster wholetime firefighters efficiently including monitoring of dual contracts, and use its state-of-the-art app to improve resilience when alerting fire teams.
Used by over 700 fire stations worldwide, and 300 fire stations in the UK, FireServiceRota is already improving the lives of firefighters across the UK, and the globe, as the optimal solution for optimising the scheduling of firefighters, On-call firefighters, and service staff in one seamless, integrated software solution. Not only can FireServiceRota integrate pay, contracts, and HR functions for an all-in-one approach which makes smarter uses of data its power is in prediction: using predictive algorithms and data analysis applied with incredible accuracy to generate insights and the most effective strategic workforce planning in the sector.
This Software-as-a-Service was co-created by Ruben, alongside the other co-founder, Cor. With a PhD in AI and over a decade applying his knowledge and skills in the sector, his insights below offer both counterpoints and complimentary points to those we read about in our Chat GPT inspired post. We asked Ruben about the challenges, opportunities and future of AI for FireServiceRota and for the sector.
AI, Ruben, and FireServiceRota
Ruben is owner of FireServiceRota together with his long-time friend Cor. His passion is to make this world a safer place while helping firefighters do their work with more freedom and flexibility.
Ruben studied Computer Science at Delft University of Technology and holds a Ph.D. in AI from the University of Southampton.
As Chief Technology Officer, he works closely with FireServiceRota's fantastic Customer Success and Development teams to first deeply understand the problem our users are facing, before coming up with practical and simple (technical) solutions.
Q. As FSR’s Chief Technology Officer what would you say is the number 1 way data can be leveraged more to improve fire engine availability?
“For me, it’s the collaboration between partners with technical expertise and those with sector insights which has always created deeper analysis which in turn leads to better pattern recognition. AI is accelerating our ability for even more more intricate pattern recognition showing the reasons why fire engines are unavailable. For example, causes can include a lack of skills availability at certain times of the day or different moment of the week which correlate to commuting trends. We are on the brink of expanding our tools of analysis which will likely confirm and add definitive detail to the speculations of those in the fire and rescue service for years. The plural of anecdote is data after all.”
Q. Resilience, safety, and reliability are crucial characteristics of the FRS but this can often mean we can necessarily be slow to change. What do rapid AI advancements mean for a fire sector often understandably already at capacity, often without the digital and data skills to leverage it?
“Fairness/work distribution is highly algorithmic. From affording shift swap systems with fair ‘rules’ applied, to even more On-call more algorithms which can proactively suggest swaps to cover crew deficiencies, FSR can optimise resources, and afford workforce flexibility without compromising resilience. For example, as we just saw a few days ago in Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service FSR can support flexibility and fairness for all by suggesting improvements for shift swaps (an OCFF booking on at the optimum) during Christmas to ensure everyone has equal opportunities.” (Creating Christmas Goodwill = good availability!)
“Also, as AI improves, technology advances, and what was once a 1G phone signal now becomes 5G and beyond, and thereby provides mobile phone and data coverage across greater swathes of the UK landmass, features such as smart alerting and geo-fencing will become more widespread. These features of any future-proofed alerting and availability software or system is already helping FRSs future proof their technology, replace obsolete pager systems, and provide alerting mechanism in areas of the world and the UK where signals for alters have often failed. I see such features as essential enhancements for ensuring a resilient, responsive, future-proofed FRS Fit for the Future”
AI: Availability Improvements
Q. Lastly we wanted to hear your thoughts on the longstanding debate and ‘Tech Giant War’ between Google and MS more recently overarched by Open AI developments narrative. As we know, Microsoft use predominates in the FRS at present and so users of AI-driven MS Co-pilot will likely increase. What’s your view: Google or Microsoft?
“My formative and higher education in IT, my values, and my vision for FSR has always been, and remains ‘Vendor agnostic’. We don’t take sides and we believe doing so is often counterproductive. For example, if you are too heavily orientated towards one system of software this reduces resilience and the capacity to change when a competitor makes major strides which you might need to embrace. Likewise, from our use of Open Source software to our own Open API’s, we believe in openness as both an organisational and cultural characteristic. This is a value we propagate and is that which is also embedded in the principles of our Agile approach. When we work with customers we see it as a collaboration, learning, adapting and advancing. This requires openness.
In the very near future, Al will almost certainly be able to assist us by using real-time data to monitor fire incidents and dispatch On-call fire engines more efficiently. Al can already analyze data from sensors and cameras to detect fires and alert the fire service immediately. This can help reduce response times and improve the improve the overall effectiveness of fire engines.”
Whatever the future holds, its the skills of those such as Ruben, working at FireServiceRota, which can support services now and in the future to ensure the right people (FFs with the right skills) are in the right place (available for a ‘shout’) at the right times (periods of high demand) by providing the softer which analyzes data supporting FRS personal to measure the right things to do the right things and enhance their evidence-based decision making which in turn often optimises use of resources.
With a mission ‘to contribute to a safer world & happier first responders through world-class software and service by happy self-improving people’ FSR is already helping services to schedule On-call firefighters more effectively, ensuring that there are always enough firefighters available to respond to emergencies.
Want to learn more about how AI, FireServiceRota, or how our research and data solutions can support your Service. Please get in touch or join the conversation using links below.
As always, thanks for reading!