NZ Government announce investment into emergency management systems

Great to see the NZ Government announcing further investment into emergency management systems for NEMA through the EMS-OS programme.

The programme includes shared data platforms, common operating picture tools, operational coordination systems, and national warning capabilities. All of these are important as emergency management shifts toward more data-driven operations and real-time situational awareness.

What struck me hearing Minister Mark Mitchell speak about this at Comms Connect was how closely some of this aligns with capabilities already developed within the critical communications sector through Next Generation Critical Communications (NGCC).

One example is the PSN Network Visibility Service. This provides emergency services with near real-time visibility of planned and unplanned outages across the Spark and One NZ mobile networks, including forecast information up to two weeks ahead.

It gives emergency services better situational awareness about communications availability before sending people into the field. It supports operational planning, staff safety, resilience decision-making, and incident response during rapidly changing events.

There is already a growing ecosystem of operational data, network intelligence, and situational awareness capability developing across New Zealand’s emergency services, utilities, and wider critical communications environment.

The challenge now is connecting these capabilities together in a way that supports a more coordinated national operating picture during emergencies.

Because during major events, the ability to securely share trusted operational information quickly is critical for effective emergency response.

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