The Authority On... · 2025-02-26 · 8 min
Public safety systems are increasingly dependent on IoT devices and real-time data integration to improve emergency response outcomes. David Ihrie explores how environmental sensors enable early wildfire and flood detection up to 30 minutes before emergency calls arrive, while drone-based first responders provide situational awareness that has already saved lives by locating stranded motorists and expediting extractions. However, this connectivity creates significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities - adversarial nation states are already testing attacks on critical infrastructure like power grids and water supplies. Ihrie emphasizes the importance of device identity verification, data validation, and communications security at the edge. The conversation also covers quantum computing's potential for optimizing emergency resource allocation and asset location, AI's mixed implications for critical infrastructure access, and climate-related IoT deployments including wildfire centers now operating in Hawaii, Colorado, Canada, and the Netherlands. Public-private partnerships emerge as essential for sharing threat intelligence and coordinating emergency response across sectors.
Environmental IoT sensors provide early warning 30 minutes before emergency calls arrive, allowing responders to mobilize faster and with better situational awareness. Wildfire centers deploying this technology have been installed in Hawaii, Colorado, Canada, and the Netherlands.
Drones serve as first responders before traditional emergency services arrive, providing rapid situational assessment. In one documented case, a drone located a stranded motorist who was unable to provide their exact location, enabling responders to extract them from a car that immediately caught fire.
Adversarial nation states are actively testing attacks on critical infrastructure like power grids and water supplies. The increased connectivity created by IoT deployments expands attack surface area, requiring device identity verification, data validation, and secure communications protocols.
Quantum computing can rapidly solve asset location and resource optimization problems to improve emergency response efficiency. AI analytics tools offer benefits for situational awareness, but AI systems requesting access to critical infrastructure require careful governance and authentication protocols.
Much critical infrastructure is privately owned, so public and private sectors must coordinate to secure assets and share threat intelligence. Private sector entities like retailers also play integral roles in emergency response, making cross-sector information sharing essential.
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
How are IoT, drones, and emerging technologies transforming public safety and emergency response? Join us in this fascinating conversation with David Ihrie, CTO of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), as we explore the integration of IoT in critical infrastructure and public safety.
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
Speaker A: Welcome to the Authority on a podcast brought to you by Device Authority.
Speaker B: Hi, David.
Speaker C: Good morning.
Speaker B: It's really nice to meet you finally in person, having met you virtually a number of times. For everyone watching, um, I wondered if you could tell me a bit more about VIPC and your role.
Speaker C: Yeah, certainly. So, I'm a Chief Technology Officer. Uh, VIPC is part of the Commonwealth of Virginia, so we're a state entity, uh, innovation arm before the company left and really focused on economic development. The mission areas we focus on are either, uh, public services like public safety or enabling new industries. Currently, advanced air mobility is a big new industry that we're spending a lot of time now.
Speaker B: Amazing. So your talk at the conference, um, is called what's the Emergency? Public Safety in a world of IoT and cybersecurity. Could you give us a very brief overview of what you're going to be discussing today?
Speaker C: Well, certainly. The two major areas I mentioned, are you public safety or advanced air mobility? Both are increasingly reliant on data and the use of data to understand the situation that's going on. In public safety, it's really about bringing it together. People and data from a number of different sources. For advanced air mobility, it's all about understanding where it's flying in the airspace. In both of those cases, a lot of the source Data is from IoT devices. It's important that the data be secured and trustworthy, all those good things that come along with cybersecurity,
Speaker B: which means that our partnership works well. So in the context of public safety, how has the rise of IoT impacted emergency response systems, critical infrastructure, and so on? Are, uh, there any particular advancements or challenges that stand out to you?
Speaker C: Yeah, so I think there are two things we've done a fair amount in terms of environmental sensing. We just had a major hurricane come through the US and caused, uh, substantial flooding or wildfires. Uh, so I think Iotine, uh, sensors both for early warning of the water's rising or a fire has ignited, has proved significant in some cases. For example, in Wildfire, we're getting alerts about a fire 30 minutes before the emergency call comes in. So that's a, that's a big difference. Um, you know, I think the other area, kind of the, the overlap of the two use cases I mentioned is that we're now increasingly using drones as a first responder. So, uh, before the emergency services can arrive on scene, they'll send a drone and get a, uh, quick look at what the situation. That's had some very positive impacts.
Speaker B: Yeah, now that's amazing. So that means we can get our emergency services there faster and we get
Speaker C: better understanding of what's going on.
Speaker B: Exactly.
Speaker C: We've had an instance, for example, where the drone was able to provide the location of, of a roadside emergency. The callers were not able to provide an exact location because of drone information. The responders got immediately to the car, they were able to extract the person from the car, which then immediately burst into flames. The ability to get them more quickly has a real life.
Speaker B: Amazing. So with more devices being connected, how do we ensure that these systems are secure and resilient against cyber attacks on the IoT side?
Speaker C: We started with the IoT devices and I think those are easier to understand and help manage. Uh, people are a real issue. Weakness or vulnerability, if you will, uh, and understanding the identity of devices at the edge, communications, uh, validating the data that's coming through, all of those are that we're now showing how those can be done.
Speaker B: You mentioned digital critical infrastructure. How vulnerable is our infrastructure to cyber attack? Um, and what steps can we take to protect?
Speaker C: Ah, well we're already seeing, I think some of the uh, adversarial nation states. We're already seeing them in testing out attacks in some of our critical infrastructure, whether it's power grids or water, uh, supplies. So you know, part of the title, what's the emergency? I think that's, that's a big piece of the emergency is we need to take steps to protect those vulnerable systems as quickly as we can, you know, hopefully before we have a disaster or another disaster on our hands.
Speaker B: Yeah, the more advanced we become, the more we put online, uh, the more vulnerable we are to these nation state attacks.
Speaker C: That's the connectivity that's led to those concerns.
Speaker B: Scary, isn't it? So what role does public private corporation play in, you know, in securing critical infrastructure?
Speaker C: Well, at least in the states, there are two things. A lot of the critical infrastructure was privately owned or quasi privately owned. And we rely on those entities to secure their own assets. The second thing is increasingly emergency response. The private sector is part of our response. Whenever talking about World Kitchen, Home Depot providing plywood, uh, an integral part of the response. And so we need to find ways to share information across the public private sectors.
Speaker B: Amazing. So climate change is another key area of your session. How does IoT integrate with climate related emergencies and technology and helping migrate risks?
Speaker C: Yeah, I think a big success so far has been with the Wildfire Centers. We've deployed those now to Hawaii to where the Maui fires were on each side. Colorado And Canada, the Netherlands actually bought a few of our wild forests. As you move to more northern latitudes, there's uh, places where um, the permafrost is melting for the first time in memory, immediately burns. And once it burns, it's now susceptible to flooding. Trying to find ways to understand better and to manage that. I mentioned hurricanes. I think we're seeing that much more. Can we understand where the, where the risk, uh, areas are high risk areas for buildings and for creating population.
Speaker B: Yeah, ever evolving. Um, so quantum computing and AI are also big discussion points. Could you explain the potential impact of these technologies on public safety and cybersecurity? And are there opportunities and threats that we need to be aware of?
Speaker C: Yeah, let me talk about quantum computing. I think it allows uh, rapid solution understanding of problem areas that were not approachable previously for things like uh, asset location. Where can I create employee assets to best respond during an emergency? Can I change where I put resources to more effectively respond? I think uh, that's an area where from a computational point of view there certainly are opportunities. From the vulnerability perspective, implementing some of the quantum resistant operations on the assumption that passwords aren't going to do revolution. AI is more of a mixed bag. You don't yet understand it certainly if you use AI as an analytic tool, but makes sense. I worry about an AI based system coming and asking for access to our critical infection systems and how do I manage that.
Speaker B: But from a strategic point of view, working out where those assets need to be.
Speaker C: Yes.
Speaker B: We're actually looking at uh, quite a good benefit there.
Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B: So looking ahead, how do you see the relationship between IOT and um, public safety evolving?
Speaker C: I think it's um, the two big things I mentioned already, situational awareness. They're not going to have these networks and devices deployed. Hopefully that will help our understanding of what situations are, uh, and then the use of those technologies. You know, we're spending a lot of time right now on drones as a first responder to incorporate their capabilities.
Speaker B: That's amazing. Thank you so much for joining me and talking to me here at the conference today. It's been really amazing to meet you.
Speaker C: Yeah, a pleasure as well. Glad to be able to do it.
Speaker B: Thank you, thank you.
Speaker A: Thank you for listening to this episode of the Authority on a, um, podcast brought to you by Device Authority. If you have any questions about the subject matter in this podcast, please head to the Device Authority website, deviceauthority.com See you next time.
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