AFAC Transforms Aerial Firefighting Operations with Enhanced ARENA Platform

Project Overview: 

In the last few months of 2023 Lynkz collaborated with the National Aerial Firefighting Council (NAFC) under the Australian and New Zealand National Council for fire and emergency services (AFAC). The primary focus of the project was the assessment of AFAC’s Arena platform, a key component utilised for national aerial firefighting operations. 

AFAC Background: 

The Australian and New Zealand National Council for fire and emergency services (AFAC) is a collaborative organisation dedicated to enhancing emergency management and response capabilities across Australia and New Zealand. AFAC works closely with various stakeholders, including government agencies, fire and emergency services, community organisations, and the private sector, to develop and implement policies, guidelines, and strategies aimed at improving the overall effectiveness and efficiency of emergency services. 

Review Request: 

AFAC and NAFC operate a platform called ARENA that is responsible for the tracking and tasking of aerial firefighting resources. Its responsibility extends to operational tasking, aircraft, equipment, and crew certification, and task tendering. The platform is used by emergency services in order to respond rapidly to developing requests for assistance.  

Due to the critical nature of this solution, AFAC and NAFC engaged Lynkz to conduct an external review, aiming to evaluate the current state of the ARENA platform and provide recommendations on continued investment in the existing platform or considering its complete overhaul. This review was driven by known existing pain points in the solution and required additional feedback by users of the platform before a suitable recommendation could be provided. 

During the course of this review, Lynkz has applied its platform review methodologies in collaboration with AFAC and NAFC staff in order to elicit feedback and current state assessments for the ARENA platform. In addition to these workshops, Lynkz has also provided a best practices review covering the management of some of the core functions from the platform and conducted a development-level review to assess the viability of the existing technical infrastructure supporting the application. 

After review of the platform, and consideration of the organisations strategic goals, Lynkz was able to develop a recommendations paper outlining the benefits of continued investment in the platform vs the redevelopment of the platform from the ground up. This review consisted of functional and technical architecture reviews and was provided to AFAC and NAFC for further decisions on the strategic implementation of their chosen recommendation. 

Ultimately Lynkz provided AFAC and NAFC with not only a recommendations paper, but additional materials that opened further discussion around how the platform could be adapted to meet changing strategic and operational needs. Recommendations and raw feedback were provided not only to address the platform as a whole, but specific operational functions within the application, and infrastructure recommendations for cost-saving measures based on their technology stack.