Adan Pope

Technology provides a solution and can help to drive change, but only when it is well understood, well integrated, and adapted to suit the needs of the organization without disrupting well-honed workflows. I believe that it is important for emergency communications to transform rationally and with strategic intent. That goal starts with an understanding of how all these new and cool technologies work and what they can do. This is why I like to write about technology. By fostering industry dialog, perhaps we can figure out how to best adapt the latest innovations from the computing, telecommunications, and information industries into emergency communications infrastructure and workflows.

 As you will see in my posts, I like to start by asking the question “Why?” a lot. Why this tech or why that approach? With so many technology choices on the market and with so many successes and failures in the past, I imagine that many of you question whether you should do something just because you can do something. That’s a very valid and self-aware question. I ask myself that question every day as a technology leader and innovator. We don’t all have to be experts on every new technology to decide on how to best make use of it, we just need an informed point of view for what it means to your organization. That starts with Why.

 So, yes, change is hard. Transformation takes an inordinate amount of patience and empathy, an exacting focus on the public experience, and a dose of digital curiosity. I hope you will find these blogs can help with the latter. Don’t be afraid to ask why. The answers to your problems are probably out there already somewhere.