California Wildfires: Lessons in Public-Sector Portals: devastated 14,117 acres and destroyed over 7,000 structures, impacting a population of 10 million—larger than many U.S. states. While Los Angeles has made significant strides in recovery, the wildfires highlighted an urgent need for advanced public-sector portals with robust, user-friendly features to better support constituents during disasters.
In the face of overwhelming challenges, such as evacuation orders, air quality alerts, school closures, and strained hospital resources, integrated communication systems proved essential. Federal, State and Local Government portals must leverage resources, weather, and disaster intelligence and evolve to provide real-time updates, emergency aid coordination, and seamless disaster recovery support, ensuring public health and safety remain a top priority during future crises.
ServiceNow Xanadu AI Features: Enhance Disaster Management & Public Services
| Feature | Capability | Key Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| AI-Driven Incident Management | Automates ticket categorization and routing based on historical data. | Reduces triage time by 30%, ensures accurate assignment, and improves resolution speed. |
| Predictive Resource Allocation | Anticipates needs for personnel, vehicles, equipment, and supplies during emergencies. | Minimizes resource misallocation, speeds up deployments, and ensures critical needs are met. |
| Unified Disaster Dashboard | Centralizes real-time tracking of incidents, evacuations, and resource use. | Enhances visibility for leaders, enabling faster and informed decision-making. |
| AI-Powered Constituent Alerts | Automates public updates for evacuations, health alerts, and recovery services. | Provides real-time, personalized communication, ensuring communities stay informed and prepared. |
| Now Assist for PSDS | Delivers AI-generated summaries and recommendations for public service agents. | Speeds up case resolution and enhances constituent satisfaction during emergencies. |
| Social Benefits Automation | Streamlines applications for disaster relief and financial assistance. | Reduces processing delays and ensures timely support for affected individuals and families. |
| Emergency Response Optimization | Coordinates ambulance dispatch, hospital updates, and public safety alerts during disasters. | Ensures seamless collaboration among emergency responders, hospitals, and public agencies. |
| Predictive Maintenance | Identifies infrastructure risks in IT systems and public utilities. | Prevents downtime in critical facilities, ensuring uninterrupted services during crises. |
Summary: The Power of ServiceNow Xanadu
Florida Digital Services was one of the fastest PSDS portals set up to support the Hurricane Recovery Efforts. A great success that started where they are and continued to grow and serve.
ServiceNow’s Xanadu AI features transform public-sector disaster management by enabling faster resource deployment, enhancing constituent communication, and improving operational efficiency across schools, health alerts, hospitals, and public security. These innovations ensure communities are better prepared, protected, and supported during emergencies.
ServiceNow’s public-sector portal demonstrated its transformative potential during this crisis, enabling real-time alerts, resource coordination, and constituent engagement. By leveraging these lessons, governments can enhance preparedness, improve response times, and deliver exceptional services to their communities during emergencies.
World’s Largest Volunteer Fire Service Use of ServiceNow Public- Sector Digital Services.
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS), the world’s largest volunteer fire service, faced immense challenges during the 2019-2020 Australian wildfire season. Managing 14,117 acres burned and processing 10,000 volunteer applications.
They deployed ServiceNow’s Public-Sector Digital Services (PSDS), to manage inefficiencies to mobilize volunteer recruitment, and streamlined resource allocation. Advanced innovations enabled real-time tracking of personnel, vehicles, and equipment, dramatically improving response times and operational efficiency to a single disaster management dashboard, reducing delays and errors, and enhancing collaboration across 2,000 brigades.
A key benefit of using a single platform to digitize these service offerings is the ability to integrate them across human resources, IT, engineering, logistics, finance, and procurement. This offers a simpler request process for end users.
When you’ve got campaign fires—these multiple concurrent fires—you can lose track of things. Now it all goes into a common view with a neat queue so you can track where everything is.
~ John Danson Chief Information Officer
Leadership gained critical visibility into resource gaps, while automated workflows ensured faster deployments during concurrent fires. The implementation of ServiceNow’s Public-Sector Digital Services (PSDS) by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) delivered significant benefits to a wide range of constituents, enhancing safety, communication, and resource accessibility during the 2019-2020 wildfire season.
NSW Constituents’ Benefits from PSDS: Summary Table
| Constituent Group | How They Benefited | Statistics/Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| Impacted Residents and Evacuees | Received timely and accurate updates on evacuation alerts, air quality, and road closures. | 14,117 acres of fire-affected land managed; significant reduction in confusion and risk during evacuations. |
| Volunteers and Firefighters | Streamlined onboarding of new volunteers; enhanced visibility into resource allocation and deployments. | 10,000 new volunteers onboarded quickly; coordination improved across 75,000 total volunteers in 2,000 brigades. |
| Vulnerable Populations | Accessed centralized welfare services for shelter, food, and medical aid. | Improved service delivery for priority groups, reducing delays in critical aid during emergencies. |
| Community Leaders and Local Officials | Gained real-time dashboards for resource tracking and decision-making. | Enhanced situational awareness for 2,000 brigades enabled better resource allocation and faster response times. |
| Broader Community | Accessed public-facing platforms to track fire progression, recovery efforts, and submit service requests. | Increased trust and transparency with real-time information on relief and recovery programs. |
This table highlights the key benefits of ServiceNow’s PSDS, showing how it transformed disaster response and management for the NSW Rural Fire Service and its constituents
Los Angeles Mobilization was very prepared, with Fire.CA.Gov Public-Sector Portal
The devastating impact of wildfires is undeniable, yet effective management has showcased the resilience of our communities. However, the opportunity to elevate our disaster response through smarter, more inclusive community portals remains vast. These platforms can revolutionize how we prepare for, respond to, and recover from crises.
The road to management, rebuilding, and survival in the aftermath of such disasters will demand coordinated efforts across all levels of government. By replacing outdated manual workflows with advanced technologies, we can significantly improve efficiency, transparency, and the overall experience for those affected.
PSDS Portals in Wildfire Management
Investing in intuitive, integrated digital solutions not only strengthens disaster response capabilities but also enhances trust and engagement with the communities we serve. The path forward must embrace innovation to ensure we’re better equipped for the challenges ahead.
| Functionality | Portal/Agency | Features Leveraged | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real-Time Alerts and Updates | Los Angeles Emergency Management Portal (ServiceNow-powered) | AI-driven alerts for evacuation, air quality, and road closures. | Targeted notifications reduced confusion, improved safety, and saved lives. |
| Coordinated Resource Allocation | California State Disaster Response Portal | Centralized requests for shelters, food, medical aid via ServiceNow. | Streamlined resource distribution ensured high-need areas received timely support. |
| Community Engagement | MyLA311 (City of Los Angeles) | Enabled hazard reporting, aid requests, and recovery progress tracking. | Transparent communication boosted public trust and streamlined issue resolution. |
| Weather and School Integration | Los Angeles Unified School District Portal (ServiceNow-integrated) | Data from weather services and school systems provided real-time updates on closures and emergency plans. | Parents received timely alerts, enabling effective family emergency planning. |
| Federal Coordination | FEMA Disaster Assistance Portal | Case management for insurance claims and rebuilding permits with simplified workflows. | Reduced processing times for disaster recovery grants, speeding up community recovery. |
| Air Quality Monitoring | South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) | Integration with ServiceNow for real-time air quality alerts. | Residents accessed accurate information, reducing exposure risks during wildfire events. |
| Health and Medical Services | California Department of Public Health | AI-driven case management for medical aid and vaccination updates during crises. | Enhanced coordination between hospitals and emergency services for disaster medical relief. |
Expanding the Value of Public-Sector Portals
| Category | Example Features | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Proactive Disaster Preparedness | AI-driven predictive analytics for risk forecasts. | Identified wildfire-prone areas to allocate resources preemptively. |
| Enhanced Recovery Services | Simplified workflows for recovery grants and insurance claims. | Reduced administrative burden and improved recovery times. |
| Constituent-Centered Design | Multi-language support, accessible interfaces. | Improved inclusivity ensured critical information reached all populations, including vulnerable groups. |
Conclusion
By leveraging ServiceNow’s Public-Sector Digital Services and AI capabilities, city, state, and federal agencies effectively coordinated operations, improved communications, and streamlined disaster recovery during wildfires. We have seen some very effective examples from NSW, from Florida, and from California. Let us continue to grow and advance integrated portals have set a benchmark for integrating real-time data, resource allocation, and community engagement, proving invaluable in safeguarding lives and accelerating recovery efforts
Let’s apply these lessons to build smarter, safer, and more connected cities. The time to act is now.
Other Resources California Wildfires: Lessons in Public-Sector Portals
- 211 (call) for Essential Community Services | United Way 211
- AirNow.gov
- Application impact analysis: risk-based approach to business continuity & disaster recovery – NIH
- California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection | CAL FIRE
- California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
- DisasterAssistance.gov– FEMA recovery assistance and support for LA Fire Victims
- Emergency – COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
- Federal Emergency Management- FEMA.gov – Tools to Recover
- Florida Digital Service for Disaster Recovery- ServiceNow – Customer Story
- FL[DS] – The Florida Digital Service – Home
- How Predictive Intelligence helps us in creating tickets via Agent Workspace and Service Portal
- LA County Alert Registration
- Los Angeles Fires Real Time Resources
- Now Assist for Public Sector Digital Services (PSDS)
- NSW Rural Fire Service – ServiceNow – Customer Story
- Public Sector Digital Services
- Ready LA County | Emergency Notifications
- Your Guide to the ServiceNow Xanadu Release
