The State of FireTech 2023 Annual Update main report is a deep dive. It presents detailed analysis on wildfire trends, emerging FireTech categories, policy and funding tailwinds, and the 2023 Survey results.
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The In Brief document is a quick read. It summarizes key wildfire trends, emerging FireTech categories, policy and funding tailwinds, and the 2023 Survey results.
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The State of FireTech 2023 Annual Update builds on the first State of FireTech Report (2022) to examine emerging trends in how FireTech—the development and application of science, data, and technology innovations—can enable wildfire risk management in effective and equitable ways.
Section I—Year in Review, provides an overview of three key trends that will increasingly come to influence the future of innovation and investments in wildfire risk management:
1. Changing fire regimes in the WUI will need better methods to identify the ‘fires that matter’,
2. Increasingly urban impacts of fire highlight the need to prioritize ‘mitigations that matter’,
3. Smoke exposure and toxicity will require better smoke management to save lives.
In the context of these global trends, the first section identifies five emerging categories of FireTech— Connectivity, Digital, Fintech, Mechanization, and Materials, see Figure. The section also provides an overview of policy developments and funding tailwinds for science, data, and technology, with a focus on the United States. It shows why there is a need for increased investment and innovation in wildfire mitigation, resilience, and adaptation.
Section II—State of FireTech 2023 Survey, presents findings from the inaugural State of FireTech Survey.
This first survey solicited reflections on the development, application, and scaling of FireTech solutions from four distinct yet overlapping perspectives: entrepreneurs, researchers, end users, and funders.
Key findings include:
a) General misalignment between innovation trends, end user needs, and funding priorities (see Section II for details).
b) Entrepreneurs report challenges with gaining access to agile and relevant funding, conducting timely pilots and sustained testing with end users, and scaling technology adoption in new markets and geographies.
c) End users report challenges with assessing the relevance and usefulness of new technology products, securing funding, procurement, and effectively integrating new technology across agency data and program silos.
d) Funders report challenges with not finding enough operators, lack of return on investment, challenges with growing markets in geographies and verticals, lack of scaled adoption by potential end users, as well as a lack of government capacities and infrastructure to effectively distribute funding.
The State of FireTech 2023 Annual Update and In Brief was compiled by Wonder Labs with support from The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's Wildfire Resilience Initiative.
Section I—Year in Review, provides an overview of three key trends that will increasingly come to influence the future of innovation and investments in wildfire risk management:
1. Changing fire regimes in the WUI will need better methods to identify the ‘fires that matter’,
2. Increasingly urban impacts of fire highlight the need to prioritize ‘mitigations that matter’,
3. Smoke exposure and toxicity will require better smoke management to save lives.
In the context of these global trends, the first section identifies five emerging categories of FireTech— Connectivity, Digital, Fintech, Mechanization, and Materials, see Figure. The section also provides an overview of policy developments and funding tailwinds for science, data, and technology, with a focus on the United States. It shows why there is a need for increased investment and innovation in wildfire mitigation, resilience, and adaptation.
Section II—State of FireTech 2023 Survey, presents findings from the inaugural State of FireTech Survey.
This first survey solicited reflections on the development, application, and scaling of FireTech solutions from four distinct yet overlapping perspectives: entrepreneurs, researchers, end users, and funders.
Key findings include:
a) General misalignment between innovation trends, end user needs, and funding priorities (see Section II for details).
b) Entrepreneurs report challenges with gaining access to agile and relevant funding, conducting timely pilots and sustained testing with end users, and scaling technology adoption in new markets and geographies.
c) End users report challenges with assessing the relevance and usefulness of new technology products, securing funding, procurement, and effectively integrating new technology across agency data and program silos.
d) Funders report challenges with not finding enough operators, lack of return on investment, challenges with growing markets in geographies and verticals, lack of scaled adoption by potential end users, as well as a lack of government capacities and infrastructure to effectively distribute funding.
The State of FireTech 2023 Annual Update and In Brief was compiled by Wonder Labs with support from The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's Wildfire Resilience Initiative.
The State of FireTech 2024 Survey is now live! Please take the survey before September 30, 2024.
Click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/firetech2024
Or scan this QR code on your mobile device:
Click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/firetech2024
Or scan this QR code on your mobile device:
