Emergency Services Drone Innovation Day to showcase next-generation capabilities
New drone technologies with the potential to transform emergency response will be showcased at an Emergency Services Drone Innovation Day in Canberra on 10 March.
Bringing together researchers, industry leaders and emergency services personnel, the event will explore how advances in drone and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) can enhance situational awareness, decision-making and disaster response.
The NSSN, the Australian and New Zealand Council for fire and emergency services (AFAC) and the Australian National University (ANU) Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence are hosting the event at ANU’s Field Robotics Centre near Canberra.
“Drones are an increasingly powerful tool for emergency services,” Director of the ANU Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence, Professor Marta Yebra says.
“When connected with satellites, ground sensors and analytics, they become part of a national sensing network, almost like a nervous system for Australia, enabling faster, smarter decisions when it matters most. No single organisation can build that system alone. Events like this bring together researchers, industry and emergency services to accelerate collaboration and turn innovation into trusted operational capability.”
“Australia’s emergency services are increasingly using airborne drone systems to assess risk, increase situational awareness and respond to both natural disasters and public safety issues in our communities,” NSSN Natural Hazards Theme Lead Peter Runcie says.
“The Emergency Services Drone Innovation Day is a way for drone users and innovators to engage with each other and explore the cutting edge of drone related technologies.”
The event will explore how advances in drone (pictured) and RPAS can enhance situational awareness, decision-making and disaster response. Credit: Supplied
“As drone use becomes more embedded in emergency service operations, it is important that our member agencies stay informed about emerging technologies and assess them through an operational lens,” AFAC Aviation Research and Evaluation Manager Deb Sparkes says.
“Events like this help bridge the gap between innovation and implementation, ensuring new capabilities are introduced in a way that is safe, evidence-based and aligned with operational need.”
The event program will focus on practical insights, emerging technologies and real-world operational use cases, with contributions from leading researchers and industry partners working directly in emergency services contexts.
Participants will hear from experts across research and industry through a series of short presentations covering current developments in drone capability, autonomy, sensing and operational integration.
The presentations will be complemented by live demonstrations showcasing how drone and RPAS technologies are being applied to support situational awareness, operational decision-making and response activities in the field.
Researchers from five NSSN member universities will present their latest work, including:
Dr Endrowednes Kuantama from Macquarie University on seamless drone handover and mid-air battery swap technologies
Ray Telikani from University of Technology Sydney (UTS) on adversarially secure drones and swarm-agent coordination for large-scale truck-drone systems in large-scale environments
Mona Raoufi from University of Wollongong on enhancing UAV operations for bushfire management using machine learning
Steven Young from Western Sydney University on LiDAR as the next frontier in land search and rescue
Professor Robert Mahoney from Australian National University (ANU) on early detection of lightning ignitions for bushfire management
Industry partners will also showcase innovative technologies and operational solutions, with presentations from MapNova, Pioneer Au, HydroGien, Novasol, Firetech Labs,Airbus and Silvertone UAV.
The event will provide a valuable opportunity for drone and RPAS practitioners from Australian emergency services agencies to share experiences, compare approaches and explore emerging capabilities that could shape future operations.
The Emergency Services Drone Innovation Day will be held on 10 March from 10am to 4pm at the ANU Field Robotics Centre, 468 Uriarra Road, Spring Valley, ACT.
For further information, contact Peter Runcie. Event details and registration are available online.