Call for Papers

Submit a Paper

Public safety technology refers to the various tools and systems that are used to enhance the safety and security of individuals and communities. The current and future size of the public safety sector requires attention to what drives market demands and growing needs. The growing public safety market is constantly looking for novel and better ways to protect critical infrastructure, cities, businesses, and citizens. The current advanced technologies have potential to prepare, anticipate, and respond to these needs. However, dealing with public safety demands is moving at a slower pace than other areas in terms of adopting new technologies. There is a rapid digital transformation in terms of smart buildings and cities, systems automation, and information processing.

Public safety can be enhanced by fast and efficient communications via resilient and secure public communication networks. Reliable communication technologies for public safety are required for many emergency scenarios in real-time in detection and protection. However, many public safety infrastructures still lack leveraging the latest communication technologies to optimally address emergency situations. Additionally, attention is needed to the diverse and special requirements of public safety that cannot be fulfilled by emerging 6G and AI technologies standards. Therefore, this Special Issue (SI) aims to devise novel methods, algorithms, and solutions, which are necessary to make the latest advancements in emerging communication technologies aware of public safety needs.

Original contributions and review papers are sought in the following topics, but are not limited to:

• Resilient and adaptive communication strategies in extreme conditions and multi-hazard environments. 
• Public safety performances with emerging communication technology paradigms (e.g., mmWave/THz, free-space optical communications, multi-access, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, full-duplex communications, non-terrestrial networks, integrated sensing and communications, visible light communications) 
• Crisis communication strategies using social media networks.
• Next-generation public safety operations with mission-critical networks.
• Network modeling for public safety communications.
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning in public safety communication technologies
• Spectrum efficiency and capacity enhancement for public safety networks.
• Coexistence and interoperability solutions for multi-agency collaboration strategies in heterogeneous public safety communication infrastructures.
• Cybersecurity and privacy techniques to enhance public safety communication networks.
• Ethical implications of surveillance technologies in public safety.
• Advanced satellite communication solutions for remote and disaster areas.
• Uncrewed aerial vehicles and drones for surveillance, search and rescue, and disaster response in public safety scenarios.
• Edge computing and fog computing technologies for real-time decision-making in emergencies.
• Integrating Internet-of-Things devices and sensing for enhanced situational awareness in public safety.

Submission Guidelines

Manuscripts should conform to the standard format as indicated in the Information for Authors section of the Manuscript Submission Guidelines. Please, check these guidelines carefully before submitting since submissions not complying with them will be administratively rejected without review.

Solicited and invited papers shall undergo the standard IEEE peer review process. After initial screening, the paper will immediately go to the review process. Prospective authors should submit their manuscripts following the IEEE Communication Magazine guidelines. Authors should submit a PDF version of their complete manuscript to IEEE Submission Portal.

Important Dates

Manuscript Submission Deadline: 15 March 2025 (Deadline Extended)
Decision notification: 15 June 2025
Final Manuscript Due: 15 August 2025
Publication: November 2025

Guest Editors

Moussa Ayyash (Lead Guest Editor) 
Chicago State University, USA

Nitin Gupta
National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, India

Carolyn McGregor
Ontario Tech University, Canada

Jonathan Pan
Home Team Science & Technology Agency (HTX), Singapore

Mehmet Ulema
Manhattan College, USA 

May Wang
Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, USA