The role of new technologies in the context of security in selected areas of the smart city - the case of Polish Fire Service
TL;DR
The analysis of institutional documents and practices has revealed that digital tools are changing operational procedures, redefining relationships between services and communities, becoming a means of building trust and institutional legitimacy and an ‘implementation gap’ has been revealed, indicating the need for flexible adaptation.
Abstract
This article aims to analyse documents and case studies of fire brigade activities in the context of smart city functioning. For the purpose of this study, the authors adopted a qualitative research approach that included document analysis and analysis of exceptional cases meeting the criterion of technology use during operational activities. The study has shown that the digitalisation process in the State Fire Service (PSP) represents not only technological modernisation but also a complex social phenomenon inherent in the logic of smart city development. The analysis of institutional documents and practices has revealed that digital tools are changing operational procedures, redefining relationships between services and communities, becoming a means of building trust and institutional legitimacy. Simultaneously, an ‘implementation gap’ has been revealed – a discrepancy between normative assumptions and the daily practice of rescue operations – indicating the need for flexible adaptation. The effectiveness of innovative solutions depends not only on the systems themselves but also on adaptability, collaboration, and the joint development of safety standards. The smart city thus emerges as a dynamic socio-technical system in which security arises from a constant negotiation between the promise of technological control and the real experience of risk and uncertainty.