Chile presents its technology management model at the main innovation gathering for wildfire management in the U.S.

Within the framework of the implementation of the new Memorandum of Understanding between Conaf and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), signed last December, Conaf's Executive Director, Aída Baldini, accompanied by the Manager of Wildfire Protection, Mauricio Véjar, is leading the mission organized by the Chile California Council to Sacramento and Silicon Valley in the United States. The delegation is participating in technical meetings with North American specialists and will present Chile's experience at the Silicon Valley FireTech Convening, where the country was invited as the first international partner of FireWERX, an initiative that promotes the adoption of cutting-edge technologies for the prevention, detection, and combat of wildfires.

This exchange constitutes the first milestone of a long-term work agenda aimed at strengthening institutional capacities, accelerating the incorporation of new technologies, and deepening collaboration between Chile and California in the face of increasingly complex fires resulting from the climate crisis.

And both territories share a common scenario: Chile and California are climate mirrors, where extreme wildfires are their greatest shared challenge. The large fires that have occurred in recent years have left lessons that are now being transformed into new capabilities, tools, and innovations to face future challenges.

Conaf's Executive Director, Aída Baldini, stated that "for our country, and especially for the Corporation, it is an honor to participate in this gathering that brings together world leaders in technology for wildfire management, where we will have the opportunity to highlight our work and the tremendous investment the State has made for the prevention and control of wildfires. In fact, President José Antonio Kast, during his State of the Nation Address, was emphatic precisely on this issue: as a country, we must advance in fire prevention and protect Chile's natural resources."

Along with this, she highlighted the importance of Chile arriving at this gathering where the future of firefighting innovation is being designed. "Chilean participation is noteworthy in terms of showcasing how CONAF's work positions our country within a strategic conversation where the technologies, innovation models, and adoption mechanisms that will mark the future of wildfire management worldwide are being defined. We have already been on a collaboration agenda with CAL FIRE for ten years, and now this collaboration is expanding to a network built among public institutions, academia, philanthropy, and actors from the innovation ecosystem, and here we highlight the role and work of the Chile California Council and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the executive specified.

Tatiana Molina, co-president of the Board of the Chile California Council, noted that "we are proud to accompany Conaf in this new stage of collaboration between Chile and California, focused on innovation, technology transfer, and artificial intelligence applied to wildfires. Just a few weeks ago, together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Pérez Mackenna, and the Minister of Science, Ximena Lincolao, we signed a strategic alliance in Stanford between the Chile California Council, FireWERX, and the Stanford accelerator. Seeing that so soon after we are already transforming that agreement into concrete actions and generating real opportunities for Conaf and for Chile is a source of great pride," and added: "This visit connects Chile with those who today lead the development of new technologies to face wildfires and opens concrete opportunities to strengthen the country's capabilities in the face of increasingly extreme fires."

This visit to California is not an isolated event, but rather the first step of a continuous agenda to strengthen Chile's capabilities in the face of increasingly extreme fires. This is supported by the Memorandum of Understanding between Conaf and CAL FIRE, which contemplates a progressive agenda of technical cooperation, technology transfer, and exchange of experiences.

During the first day of the Silicon Valley FireTech Convening in Palo Alto, Conaf shared with world leaders in wildfire management Chile's experience in innovation applied to large-scale fires such as those that have occurred in recent years and highlighted the main areas where it seeks to accelerate capabilities in the coming years, including predictive models, early detection technologies, and advanced decision-support tools.