Innovation in firefighting equipment diffusion - A qualitative study about new technology adoption in Swedish fire brigades

Abstract: The continuous innovation and diffusion of fire fighting technologies has always been improving the speed and efficiency of fire fighting. The users of these technologies are qualified and passionate men and women who are dedicated to the well being of others. As for all technologies, their diffusion process isn’t smooth, and the new products can’t easily find their way into its users hands, there are always problems preventing the adoption of these technologies. Sweden suffered from one of the worst cases of forest fires in 2018 and the need for innovation to better fight these fires was imminent. In addition it was noticed that the diffusion time of fire fighting innovations is taking long periods of time for complete adoption by brigades and the adoption decision making process is not smooth or similar between all the fire brigades in Sweden. This study does a qualitative analysis of the diffusion process in Swedish fire brigades by interviewing product vendors and fire fighters in different positions and expertise. The collected data is analyzed while maintaining a theoretical guideline of diffusion theories by Everett M. Rogers and Geoffrey A. Moore. The study concluded that the process of innovation diffusion is subjective to most of the fire brigade since most fire brigades in Sweden operate and take innovation adoption decisions independently unless they were not involved in larger organization. The issue of communication between brigades was the most prominent when it comes to spreading the word about successful innovation and their compatibility to existing training and procedures. Others issues such as funding new equipment and decision makers preferences were emphasized as hinders for innovation adoption.