About IFAFRI
The International Forum to Advance First Responder Innovation focuses on enhancing and expanding the development of affordable technology and innovative solutions to improve first responder safety, efficiency and effectiveness.
ADVANCING FIRST RESPONDER INNOVATION
IFAFRI, the International Forum to Advance First Responder Innovation, is an organization of international government leaders from 15 countries and the European Commission, focused on enhancing and expanding the development of new technology for first responders.
The Forum focuses on enhancing and expanding the development of technologies to improve first responder safety, efficiency, and effectiveness.
The goal for IFAFRI is to influence the global market to develop affordable, innovative solutions for responders.
IFAFRI incentivizes the development of technologies for first responders by:
- Working with the global first responder community to define a list of common, high priority capability gaps
- Providing a platform for international collaboration on innovative research and development (R&D) initiatives and solutions
- Characterizing the global first responder markets, to inform and guide industry and academia about market opportunities
- Providing information about relevant and available technologies to the first responder community
Research and development (R&D) is critical providing first responders across the globe with the best tools available to perform their missions. R&D conducted by agencies of national governments and academia is limited to available budgetary resources. Industry investment may also be restricted because of the potential for slow or limited return on investment and the lack of understanding of priority needs and requirements.
Even when new solutions reach the commercial market, limited first responder agency budgets hinder their ability to procure the technology. Ultimately, responder and public safety and security could be compromised if advancements in technology are not implemented in the first responder sector.
The first responder market in any country may not attract sufficient industry investment to address the Common Global Capability Gaps. However, a forum of first responder representatives may create a critical mass by aggregating their response agencies and personnel to constitute an international user base. This forum challenges industry to bring new and innovative technologies to the market that may not otherwise be discovered or made available. IFAFRI provides prioritized, consolidated, and internationally agreed upon requirements that inform industry of the global first responder needs and direct researchers who may be interested in pursuing the development of a solution.
In order to fulfil its mission, IFAFRI has established 3 permanent working committees.
The Capability Gaps Committee is currently chaired by Sweden. It analyses, organizes, and prioritizes a list of Common Global Capability Gaps to help characterize current and future technology requirements for first responders. For each Capability Gap the committee elaborated a “Deep Dive” Analysis and a Statement of Objectives in which the Capability Gaps are described in depth. Academia and companies are invited to use these documents as basis for research and product development. We hope that the list of Capability Gaps and the corresponding documents contribute to needs-based innovations. The committee regularly assesses market ready solutions to see if and to what extent the gaps being closed by innovation on the market and reassesses the list of Common Global Capability Gaps.
The Research and Development Committee is currently chaired by the United Kingdom and the European Commission. It provides industry and academia with information to initiate development of relevant solutions for the Capability Gaps. The committee is responsible for the R&D repository and constantly looking for academic institutions, and research and development projects around the world which feed into the list of Common Global Capability Gaps. Beyond that it contributes to national and supranational research agendas and thus influences thematically civil security research project. In dedicated events the committee enters into dialog with academia, presents the Common Global Capability Gaps, and pinpoints funding opportunities.
The Stakeholder Engagement Committee is currently chaired by the United States. It cultivates IFAFRI’s relationships with first responders and contacts industry and academia to advance the goals of IFAFRI. Requests coming from any stakeholder group are answered by the committee and used to connect different organizations, institutions and companies with each other. The committee collects data on relevant companies and organizes frequent Technology Showcases. Those events are open to everyone and give industry the opportunity to present their innovative solutions to an international high-level audience.
