To meet the challenge of implementing change and improvements in the fire industry, the Bushfire CRC is providing ways for researchers and fire and land management agencies to work together to ensure the application of research findings across the industry.

Promoting the sharing of knowledge and enabling the application of new knowledge leads to better decision making and better bushfire management.

Because knowledge is fundamental to all fire agencies, many knowledge management and networking processes already exist. These include:

• training and courses;
• forums;
• workshops;
• mentoring;
• libraries;
• document stores;
• databases;
• intranets and internets; and
• policies, procedures and standards.
  

Within the fire agencies these processes have arisen and evolved independently. The Fire Knowledge Network will take these fragmented processes and by providing a context, enable improvement and contribute to innovation across the industry.

Readily accessible information and knowledge is vital to the fire agencies in positioning themselves as organisations with the agility and capability to react rapidly to changes in business environment. Ability to manage fire risk is dependent on the ability to effectively capture and share the right information, at the right time to meet the right strategic objectives.