The inaugural DroneSense Innovation Summit by Versaterm will take place in Scottsdale, AZ, on April 20–22, 2026. The event, which is intended to be a practical, working summit for public safety leadership, brings together command personnel, industry experts and executive decision makers to discuss the use of drones as force multipliers in contemporary public safety operations.
In terms of public safety, drones are becoming more and more important. The majority of police chiefs intend to raise their drone budgets over the course of the upcoming year, according to Versaterm's recent Public Safety Trends Survey. Agencies now have to deal with a new set of leadership problems, including navigating new regulations, responsibly managing programs, incorporating them into real-time operations and making sure they significantly improve community outcomes, officer safety, and response effectiveness.
The DroneSense Innovation Summit will teach agencies how to develop, oversee, and maintain initiatives that facilitate multi-agency cooperation, Drone as First Responder (DFR) models and real-time decision making. Executive level workshops, case studies and scenario-driven discussions based on public safety deployments are all incorporated within the two-day summit. In addition to taking part in live flight demonstrations and focused seminars on the DroneSense platform workflows from pilot-level operations to command center coordination, attendees will interact with leaders who are establishing practical practices.
“As drone programs become increasingly critical to public safety, leaders face a host of new challenges around deployment, governance and integration into their operations,” said Steve Seoane, CEO of Versaterm. “DroneSense has more data and insights on public safety drone flights than anyone else in the world. Insights about what matters to your community, the risks, the efficacy and the future challenges you will face. We’re excited to combine our perspectives with those of leading public safety experts, to share real-world lessons on deploying drones at scale and help leaders deliver safer scenes, faster responses and better outcomes.”
In addition to training sessions, the conference gives public safety aviation experts the chance to network, compare programs, and exchange strategies. Evening get-togethers and time set aside for one-on-one discussions with peers and product specialists are part of the event.
Visit dronesense.versatermconference.com for registration and full summit details.
About the Author
Ryan Baker
Associate Editor
Ryan Baker is a writer and associate editor with prior experiences in online and print production. Ryan is an associate editor for Firehouse with a master's degree in sciences of communication from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He recently completed a year of teaching Intro to Public Speaking at UW-Whitewater, as part of his graduate program. Ryan acquired his bachelor's degree in journalism in 2023 from UW-Whitewater, and operates currently out of Minneapolis, MN. Baker, also writes freelances for the Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA) in his free time, while also umpiring baseball for various ages across the Twin Cities Metro Area.