Colorado public data inquiries made easy with initiative helping government labs streamline information to industry

Rod Goossen says most wildland firefighters are operating on antiquated technology. He learned from his firefighter brother they were "still using paper maps, compasses and two-way radio."

After hearing that, Goossen was inspired to create more sophisticated tools for firefighters, promising to never let a tragedy like the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona happen again. It killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hot Shots in 2013.

"They burned alive," said Goossen.

So Goossen created the DropBLock. It makes for a faster and safer response to wildland fires. The "DropBlock works over satellite, provides GPS tracking of all human and non-human resources, point-to-point tactical communications, and fire weather data," he said.

As his company, RoGo Communications, prepares to launch a 2.0 version and an app soon, a new resource is proving to be instrumental: Data compiled from federal labs in Colorado.

In an effort to preserve work coming out of federal labs, a nonprofit is making the search through monotonous data easier. That's where CO-LABS comes in. It advocates for government research facilities across the state, and created the Commercialize Colorado initiative and AI portal in February. "We really launched it as a response to everything that's occurring across the federal landscape. And so we wanted to find a way to really make sure that our labs are protected, and, more importantly, that people understand why they're so important," said Osa Aihie, director of communications at CO-LABS. "You have all these amazing things that are in these labs, you know, and that could be equipment, it could be facilities. It could also be IP, it could be data sets. And so all of these things were created, not so that they stay in the lab, but ultimately to come into the real world and make this awesome impact."

Federal labs were fashioned to be at the forefront of technology, which can be expensive. That research and development is then passed along to industry, where it's cranked up from there. "Irrespective of who is in charge at the time, industry's always going to need someone to kind of come in and take on that initial risk," Aihie told CBS Colorado.

This assisted the DropBlock with improvements. "CO-LABS helps to identify and find that data for companies like mine so we can commercialize (it)," Goossen said.     

With an excessive amount of data, essentially, like a lost document in a ton of unorganized file cabinets, Goossen needed help searching for what he required. "Specifically for our devices, we're looking for fuel moisture and fuel density information, so we can model that. Then, along with the wind speed, wind direction data, the DropBlock is better able to predict where the fire is going, how fast it's going to get there, and who might be in possible danger." Companies don't always know which federal lab to look at, how to find what they're looking for, or if it even exists. 

Companies that use Commercialize Colorado are harnessing data to build out new satellites or drones to study dangerous situations, or how many clouds are in the sky and the sky's moisture. One company looking to enhance new renewable energy projects is pulling data from NOAA and the National Weather Service. There are at least 35 federal facilities CO-LABS has worked with over the years, including organizations within USDA, the Department of Commerce, Energy, and Interior, and the National Science Foundation.

With Goossen planning for the Colorado River Protection District to pilot his device come springtime, firefighters will learn and rely on updated technology to navigate remote and powerful wildfires.

Aihie sees the bridge between federal labs and industry as a positive relationship, gaining momentum.

"Leaders need to be able to see return on investment, especially in the current administration that we're in. We believe that the more that it's done, the more that happens, the more support we receive," he said.