The year 2020 was such a unique and incredible year for CAL FIRE. Like every other government agency, we faced the same challenges of coping with the pandemic and protecting our employees and their families. Meanwhile, we were called on to do our duty to save lives and battle against unprecedented wildfires not seen in state history. We were proud of our successes and accomplishments in our mission of saving lives, protecting property and natural resources in 2020.
We are looking forward to a safer and healthy 2021. I agree with the industry consensus that we should never think about going back to the old norm; that is considered a step back. If we were only thinking about what we have done in the context of the pandemic, not considering an opportunity to jump-start what we were supposed to do, we would miss the boat.
We must move forward with the new norm that is a continuation of what we have done right in 2020 — initiatives that were sustainable and productive such as the accelerated digitization of government operations. In 2021, we need to create and adopt a new way of doing business in conjunction with the fight to end the pandemic; and continue the momentum of the digital transformation and automation of government operations. The new norms will be different among government agencies; however, the theme will be the same: The work is what you do, not where you are. Government services should be available and accessible on any computing device at the choice of our citizens and at their most convenient time, not just at places they have to go.
From the information technology point of view, CAL FIRE IT will drive continuous innovation and leverage technology as a business enabler to enhance our business capabilities; and use artificial intelligence as the catalyst to exploring the possibilities and discovering new opportunities in wildfire prediction and prevention areas. We will continue the success of last year's RFI2 (Request for Innovative Ideas) project implementation to provide enhanced (artificial intelligence) AI-centric fire prediction intelligence to the frontline firefighters and the strategic decision-makers, to meet the challenge of the upcoming fire season in 2021. We will expand our strategic collaboration, big data analytics and data sharing with our allied federal, state and local government agencies at all levels. We will continue our investment in technologies, especially in cybersecurity, to protect government digital assets and get ready for a brighter and promising 2021.
Editor’s note: This interview has been lightly edited for style and brevity.
