The ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA) has received international recognition for its world-first technology that helps the Canberra community prepare for bushfires.
The ESA won the 2019 Special Achievement Geographic Information System Award, presented at the Esri Annual User Conference in the United States for its Automated Bushfire Attack Level (AutoBal).
Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Mick Gentleman congratulated ESA which he said was picked from more than 100,000 nominated organisations world-wide.
“AutoBal helps the ESA to understand the level of risk from bushfire to people and homes in bushfire prone areas,” Mr Gentleman said.
“In just one hour, 16,000 properties can be accurately assessed using 3D mapping of buildings, landscapes and vegetation to determine the individual risk to each home.”
He said the assessments provided detailed information to help residents understand how to prepare themselves, their families and homes for the risk of bushfire.
“The first-of-its-kind technology was developed by the ESA Risk and Planning team in partnership with Esri, a global spatial technology developer,” Mr Gentleman said.
“I congratulate the ESA for setting an international benchmark in bushfire preparedness and thank it for its commitment to keeping the ACT safe.”
The awards ceremony, held in San Diego, California, also included a national security and public safety summit.
