In the high-stakes world of emergency response, maintaining accurate and up-to-date situational awareness, often referred to as “SitRep,” is not just important—it’s critical for saving lives and managing crises effectively. At Onix, a long-standing Google ecosystem partner with deep expertise in cloud data and AI, we understand the immense challenges faced by first responders and public sector agencies when information is flowing fast and decisions need to be made in real-time. That’s why we’re thrilled to introduce Orchestrator, an AI-assisted situational response orchestration tool developed in conjunction with Google Public Sector, leveraging the power of Google’s App Sheet and Gemini AI.

The core challenge: Maintaining up-to-date situational awareness

During an emergency, information floods in from countless directions: updates from various agencies, first responders, and even constituents posting on social media platforms. Geographic considerations are vital – knowing precisely where events are unfolding and where updates are coming from is essential. Decision-makers require timely and accurate summaries of the latest information; however, current processes often involve significant “toil,” diverting focus from safety and security to data management.

Furthermore, ensuring that all internal decision-makers, such as local department heads or elected officials, are kept informed, while also providing critical information to the public, can lead to bottlenecks and delays. The central challenge, as we’ve identified, is consistently maintaining up-to-date situational awareness across all involved groups.

Orchestrator: Our AI-powered solution

Working closely with Google Public Sector, we designed Orchestrator to address these pain points directly. We aimed to create an easy-to-use system built on familiar Google Workspace tools like Google Docs and Google Chat, streamlining decision-making and data gathering during emergencies.

Here’s how Orchestrator tackles the SitRep challenge:

• AI and Maps integration: Orchestrator enhances emergency response by providing real-time information on event locations and updates, giving users a clear, geographic understanding of the unfolding situation.
• Centralized information hub: At its core, Orchestrator utilizes a centralized Google document as its primary interface, divided into multiple “lifelines” such as transportation, food, and water. Each lifeline is monitored and updated by responsible Emergency Operations Center (EOC) team members, ensuring organized data flow. This document serves as a central repository for all information.
• Real-time updates and summarization: Utilizing Google’s VertexAI Orchestrator can intelligently summarize chat communications and document updates, ensuring that the latest information is always available. Automated snapshots and summaries are generated every 15 minutes, guaranteeing access to the most recent data possible, thanks to App Sheet and Gemini AI.
• Controlled and secure sharing: Users have full control over who receives the information. Secure sharing via Google Docs allows internal stakeholders, such as the mayor, to stay informed with the latest and greatest data.
• Public transparency: For constituents, Orchestrator offers the option to publish a read-only public version of the document, ensuring transparency and keeping the community updated securely.
• Customization and ease of use: Built on Google’s low-code/no-code App Sheet tool, Orchestrator is highly customizable to meet the specific needs of any entity, whether it’s a town, county, large city, or school. This user-friendly interface makes it easy for teams to adopt, understand, and own.

The Onix advantage

Onix has invested heavily in proprietary IP and tooling, resulting in several patents that speed up time to value and decrease risk in modernization efforts. Google has recognized our unique capabilities, making us a launch partner for new data and AI capabilities, including this App Sheet situational response tool. Our deep expertise in getting organizations’ data into the cloud and building production AI systems ensures that Orchestrator leverages unique business data to produce differentiated value.

With Orchestrator, our mission, alongside Google Public Sector, is to provide the greatest value to users, empowering emergency teams to focus on the safety and security of both first responders and the public at large, rather than getting bogged down in information management.

We believe Orchestrator will significantly impact how emergencies are managed, fostering better collaboration, faster decision-making, and ultimately, improved outcomes for everyone involved. Do you want to learn more about emergency response? Download our webinar.