Award winners announced at AFAC conference

Motorola Solutions and the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Council (AFAC) unveiled the 2014 AFAC & Motorola Knowledge Innovation Award winners at the annual AFAC/Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC Conference Welcome and Awards Ceremony, held in Wellington last week.

It is the fifth consecutive year that Motorola Solutions and AFAC have partnered for the awards, which feature two categories: Individual and Agency.

Richard Host, director, information technology for Fire & Rescue NSW, took home this year’s Individual Award in recognition of his exceptional leadership and management of major reforms in information technology and knowledge management at Fire & Rescue NSW. As part of the award, Host will receive $2500 to go towards attending a conference or other learning opportunity to further increase his knowledge and skills.

Meanwhile, the Agency Award was shared between the New Zealand Fire Service and the Country Fire Authority, Victoria.

The New Zealand Fire Service was recognised for the development of The Absence Management Project - a nationwide knowledge management and wellness strategy.

The Country Fire Authority, Victoria was recognised for the work the agency has undertaken on its Knowledge Strategy and Knowledge Innovation Policy to improve and sustain its strategic performance.

“AFAC is grateful for the ongoing support provided by Motorola Solutions over the past five years on a series of activities to support and enhance knowledge management across the industry,” said Stuart Ellis, AFAC’s CEO. “The AFAC Motorola Knowledge Innovation Awards recognise the efforts of individuals and AFAC member agencies that have made a significant contribution to developing and implementing knowledge management initiatives.”

Steven Crutchfield, managing director, Motorola Solutions Australia and New Zealand, said, “The AFAC Conference has become a must-attend annual event for the firefighting community. It’s an opportunity for all of us involved in the community to recognise excellence, but it also provides us the rare opportunity to share knowledge among our peers - knowledge that otherwise might be siloed. We are proud to continue to support such an important event.”

“The Knowledge Series is a very important public safety initiative in the Asia-Pacific region,” added Matt Blakeley, director of the Motorola Solutions Foundation. “It has enabled the open sharing of ideas within the industry, as well as greater awareness of safety and response in a region that has experienced too many natural disasters in the past decade. The Motorola Solutions Foundation is proud to support a program that is improving the safety of the people of Australia and New Zealand.”