Every year, the Early Adopter Summit feels a little bit like coming home. Home to the people who believe, deep down, that 9-1-1 can be better tomorrow than it is today. But this year was different. EAS 2025 wasn’t just a conference. It was a turning point.
This Summit is invite-only, bringing together a curated group of leaders and innovators who are actively shaping the future of 9-1-1. By keeping the circle focused, attendees—from ECCs, fire, law enforcement, EMS, academia, federal partners, and private innovators—could dive deeper, share openly, and collaborate meaningfully.
Over three days in Grapevine, a hundred of these leaders and thinkers from across the country and around the world gathered with one shared conviction: the refusal to wait for the future of 9-1-1 to arrive. This group gathered to build it together. The energy in the room was powerful! Innovation always begins with people and in this case, for people. From the first lightning talk to the last deep-dive discussion, this year’s Summit reflected a community boldly stepping into complexity with humility and hope.
We saw real implementations, challenges, success stories and lessons learned. And we saw people cheering one another on. The engagement included open sharing, asking honest questions and seeing possibility instead of barriers.
The Launch of the 9-1-1 Early Adopter Coalition
One of the defining moments of the Summit came when we officially launched the 9-1-1 Early Adopter Coalition, which is a national movement designed to take what we started at EAS and expand it far beyond a once-a-year event. For years, the Summit has served as fertile ground for ideas, friendships, partnerships, and courageous attempts at the next step. Now it becomes part of something bigger.
The Early Adopter Coalition is an expansion of efforts from the Summit:
· Strengthen relationships between agencies and technologists
· Create year-round collaboration and peer support
· Share case studies, failures, insights, and tools
· Identify national challenges and accelerate responsible progress
· Provide a home for innovation leaders who want to give back and help others rise
It is, in every sense, a community of servants and builders, leaders committed to making the path easier for the next generation. To the founding board members: thank you for stepping forward. You are pioneers with a purpose.
A Community Moving Forward With Purpose
At EAS 2025, we saw just how quickly “the future” is becoming real as the pace of technology change quickens. AI moved from possibility to proof as agencies shared live deployments:
· Non-emergency call automation
· Tools that improve mental health and wellness
· Enhanced training and QA/QC
· Transcription and translation in real time
· Additional data to improve responder safety
We were reminded that none of this works without trustworthy data and sharing, GIS, and interoperable mapping. Just as important, the conversations underscored that innovation is as much about people as technology. Culture, courage, training, and leadership determine whether progress takes root. And through powerful case studies on:
· Drones as first responders
· Cloud-based 9-1-1
· Integrated intelligence
· Crash detection
· Emerging video workflows
We learned directly from those who went first. This is the heartbeat of EAS: honest insights, real results, and a community committed to building what’s next together.
As we close EAS 2025 and enter the first year of the Early Adopter Coalition, I am filled with gratitude. I’m thankful for the innovators who push boundaries, leaders who show vulnerability and courage, the agencies who take risks for the sake of better service and for the private partners who listen deeply and serve with integrity. I truly appreciate the people who planned the event and each person who traveled, shared, challenged assumptions, and invested in others by attending.
Again, the future of 9-1-1 isn’t something we wait on. It’s something we build, one conversation, one partnership, one pilot, one courageous step at a time. And this Summit proved once again that when early adopters gather hope rises, innovation multiplies, and our entire profession moves forward. I cannot wait to see what we create together next year through the Early Adopter Coalition. Until next year’s Summit, let’s keep the passion alive and the needle moving forward to continued improvement for 9-1-1 services and public safety!
Written from the heart and improved by AI by Christy Williams