Increasing complexity in the fire and emergency service domain are driving the need for more sophisticated approaches to address its challenges. Aerospace Concepts, with the Government of Western Australia’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES), have taken an innovative approach to understanding a whole-of-system view of DFES capability. The capability framework takes a comprehensive view when considering decisions, moving from an asset-based to effects-based analysis of capability.

In the simplest terms, capability for the department is the ability to deliver effective fire and emergency services. Each capability involves the department’s assets, its people (including their individual skills and competencies), established organisational knowledge, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and overarching governance and accountability.

With a background in systems engineering and the defence and aerospace industries, this approach benefits from:

• A structured analysis  and modelling tool  which provides an enduring database and visual representation of data;

• Scenario analysis to explore operations and discover user and stakeholder needs;

• Structured methods to compare and evaluate which solution options best meet those needs;

• Interfaces to project management for projects needed to deliver capability change; and

• Full traceability for decisions made.

Implementing this capability framework in DFES is expected to benefit effectiveness of service, efficiency of resources and buy-in from stakeholders at a local and political level.

This poster describes the developed framework, showing how the elements of an integrated system, processes, structure and language combine to improve service delivery.