WatchTowers Networks has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Australian National University’s Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence. It marks the beginning of a year-long collaboration which will see us working together to better protect Australia’s communities in future fire seasons through the development of new detection technologies and better early warning systems.
A blueprint for smarter fire response
This agreement lays out a clear roadmap for how ANU and WatchTowers will work together. The MoU includes plans to integrate the ANU Mt Stromlo research camera feed into WatchTowers’ live network, streaming directly into the ACT Emergency Services Agency’s toolkit and the public-facing CentralWatch dashboard. This will give both emergency services and the wider public access to timely, high-quality visuals from a known fire risk zone, helping people understand where fires are, how fast they're moving and what that means for their safety in practical terms.
Beyond connecting camera feeds and research outputs, the MoU opens up opportunities for co-designed research projects. These may include upgrades to the Mt Stromlo site, testing of new fire detection technology, or field trials of advanced environmental sensors. It also lays the foundation for funding exploration, enabling both parties to seek investment that supports fire management tools designed to scale locally and stay in Australian hands.
Another key focus is community engagement. Through shared events, workshops and outreach initiatives, WatchTowers and ANU will work to deepen public understanding of bushfire risk - bridging the gap between science, technology and everyday preparedness.
Bridging research and real-world tools
For ANU, the partnership represents a continuation of its leadership role in driving innovation in bushfire science, data infrastructure and AI-based fire detection. . Based at the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society, the Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence is a national leader in multi-disciplinary bushfire research. Its team spans ecology, engineering, climate science and remote sensing, and has played a critical role in shaping fire policy, advancing predictive modelling techniques and developing early detection algorithms based on remote sensing data from multiple platforms, including fire towers.
More specifically, this partnership will contribute critical data to the University’s new AusSmoke dataset, an open data, open algorithm initiative to improve the performance of AI-based early fire detection, particularly for Australian conditions. Current automated detection technologies are limited by a lack of available images of early smoke ignitions. Most images taken from firetowers remain private due to commercial interests and privacy concerns. Reliable AI detection algorithms require tens of thousands of diverse images of smoke captured from the relevant Australian landscapes. The AusSmoke dataset, along with the algorithms trained on it, will be made freely available to fire and land management agencies, commercial partners, and research organisations, raising the standard of bushfire detection for the benefit of the entire community.
For WatchTowers, this is another step in our commitment to remain partner-agnostic and outcome-focused. Our platform is built to integrate whatever tools or data can help first responders make faster, more informed decisions - whether it comes from a satellite, a drone, a thermal camera, or an academic partner.
In practical terms, that means ANU models can help sharpen our detection algorithms. Their smoke research could feed into improved public alerting systems. And experimental technologies, like drone-mounted sensors, can be evaluated in real-world fire settings using WatchTowers infrastructure to trial new technologies in real-world settings.
The hard work is already happening - teams from both organisations are identifying use cases and testing how their tools work in tandem. Every insight we generate together helps close the gap between early detection and effective response.
Built to integrate and scale
WatchTowers' approach has always been embedded in co-design and co-operation. We focus on working with emergency services (such as the ACT Rural Fire Services) and other partners to design tools that match how crews monitor and respond in the field, then ensure those tools scale.
That same principle applies here. The ANU Mt Stromlo camera will plug straight into our broader fire intelligence network. The outputs from that stream (visuals, metadata and forecast insights) will enhance situational awareness across agencies and communities - that is, a real-time understanding of what’s happening and where. Our platform is designed for interoperability, which means our systems work with whatever our partners already use. Everything comes together in a single pane of glass.
Moving further, faster - together
WatchTowers was built on the belief that better fire intelligence starts with better collaboration. From day one, our systems have been shaped with, not for, emergency services.
This new partnership with ANU is a continuation of that ethos. We’re signalling to researchers, fire services and communities alike: we’re ready to work with anyone who shares our mission. We know that no single organisation or solution has all the answers (no matter what they might claim!).
If you’re working on the future of bushfire detection, forecasting or fireground decision-making, we’d love to hear from you. This work is collaborative by design - let’s explore how we can work together to advance the next generation of fire intelligence. Get in touch to start the conversation.
