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TracPlus Labs: Innovation at Work

What is TracPlus Labs

TracPlus Labs is where we explore what's possible beyond our core products.

For more than fifteen years, TracPlus has been building the operational record of aerial firefighting: aircraft tracking, drop data and mission records from fleets around the world. Our products put that record to work every day. Labs asks what else it could do.

The best Labs projects start with a question that’s alway been hard to answer. How stretched were we really last August? Is the fleet sitting where the risk actually is? Labs is how we say: let's find out. We bring together data that usually lives in different places, do the hard work of joining it up, and present it in a way that helps people make better decisions.

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Why we run TracPlus Labs

Our products are built to be relied on every day. Labs gives us room to try things that might not be ready for that yet.

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Ideas you can see and use.

Labs lets us turn an idea around quickly and bring it to life. Instead of talking about what might work, we put something real in front of people and talk around that.
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Problems bigger than our products.

Some of the industry's hardest problems don't fit inside a single product. Labs lets us look past what we sell and help with problems that would otherwise be hard to solve.
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Built with the industry.

We don't do this alone. We work with agencies, operators and industry partners to shape ideas, test them and make them better.
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Lessons from other industries.

Sometimes other industries have already solved problems that look a lot like ours. Labs is where we borrow those lessons and test whether they hold up in aerial firefighting.


Labs is also our home for special projects: the ideas that don't fit a product roadmap and might otherwise never see the light of day.

“We've got a lot of smart people and access to a unique set of operational data, and we believe that if you put those two things together you can build things that can really help the wildfire community.”

- James Cox, Head of Product at TracPlus
 

How a Labs project comes together

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Start with a real question.

Usually one from an agency or operator, about their own operation. Sometimes something we've been thinking about.             

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Building something fast.

We use the data we already hold, add whatever else is needed, and build a working first version without waiting for a product roadmap.            

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Put it in front of people. 

We share it with our early access members and partners, and learn from how they use it.                                                                                             

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Decide what's next.  

Some projects become part of our products. Some stay as research or tools we share. Some teach us something and stop there.                    


Not every Labs project becomes a product. That's by design. The point is to find out what's possible, and what actually helps.

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“Aerial firefighting is difficult and dangerous, and the reason we obsess over this data is a simple one: to give the people in the aircraft and on the ground the clearest possible picture. Effectiveness is not about pushing harder; it is about better decisions made earlier. That is what makes the work more effective, more efficient, and safer.”

- Todd O'Hara, TracPlus CEO

 

“Aerial firefighting is difficult and dangerous, and the reason we obsess over this data is a simple one: to give the people in the aircraft and on the ground the clearest possible picture. Effectiveness is not about pushing harder; it is about better decisions made earlier. That is what makes the work more effective, more efficient, and safer.”

- Todd O'Hara, TracPlus CEO
 

Projects from the Lab

Every Labs project starts with a question. Here's what we've released so far.

Open working paper

Where can aircraft actually reload?

A national screen of 5.7 million US water bodies, showing which ones a helicopter or scooper could reload from.

Read the story

Research model

Where is the risk, and can anyone get there?

A research model that brings wildfire risk and fleet response into one view, across more than 10,000 cells in California.

Read the story

Be first in line

Join the TracPlus Labs early access programme.

Want to see what's coming out of the Lab before anyone else? Join the programme and get involved in whichever way suits you.

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See it first.

Preview new projects before they're released publicly.
shape it with us

Shape it with us.

Work alongside our team on a project and help decide where it goes next.
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Try it in your organisation.

Test a project with your own team and tell us what works.



Have a question about your own operation that you've never quite been able to answer? Tell us in the form. That's how the best Labs projects start.

Register your interest

Frequently asked questions

What is TracPlus Labs?

TracPlus Labs is our innovation hub. Our engineers use more than fifteen years of aerial firefighting data, along with other data sources, to explore ideas beyond our core products. We move quickly, build something real, and test it with the people doing the work to see what actually helps.

Why does TracPlus run Labs?

Because some of the most useful ideas don't start on a product roadmap. Labs gives us room to turn an idea around quickly, take on problems across the wider industry, learn from other industries, and work on special projects that might otherwise never see the light of day.

Do all TracPlus Labs projects become products?

No, and that's by design. Some projects grow into features or products. Others stay as research, open working papers or tools we share. Some teach us something and stop there. We judge a project by whether it helped someone do the job better, not by whether it became something we sell.

How can I suggest a project for TracPlus Labs?

Start with a question. If there's something about your own operation you've always wanted to answer, tell us in the form on this page. We'll look at whether the data can get there. Not every suggestion becomes a project, but every one helps us understand what matters to the people doing the work.

Does TracPlus collaborate with others through TracPlus Labs?

Yes. Collaboration is a big part of how Labs works. We work with agencies, operators and industry partners to shape ideas, test them and improve them. If you'd like to work on a project with us, use the form on this page to get in touch.

How can I get early access to TracPlus Labs projects?

Join the early access programme using the form on this page. Members are first in line to preview new projects, and can choose to collaborate with our team or test projects within their own organisation. We'll be in touch as each new project is ready.