Volunteers Wanted: Create an intelligence matrix for the Fire Sector Confederation! 

Project summary

The Fire Sector Confederation is looking to untangle the growing complexity of fire-safety related meetings across government, regulators, and industry.

At present, countless overlapping meetings are convened, often with duplicated agendas, membership, or purpose. We need help to:

  • Map who convenes and chairs these meetings, and how often they occur
  • Capture their purpose, terms of reference, and membership
  • Track the key issues being discussed, outputs and decisions

The aim is to build a structured, visual representation of this network—something that allows stakeholders to navigate it easily, spot duplication and gaps, and access a shared evidence base; and that will form the basis for future more sophisticated analysis.

The end goal is the development of a dynamic, visual tool that maps the complex network of fire-safety related meetings across government, regulators, and industry. This tool would be designed to stay current through automation, reducing the manual burden of data gathering and ensuring that it remains a trusted reference point.

This is an ambitious project that will be undertaken in stages to make it manageable for Pro Bono volunteers.

How will this project benefit the organisation?

In practical terms, success means:

  • A navigable, up-to-date tracker that clearly shows who convenes meetings, their purpose, membership, frequency, and key issues discussed.
  • The ability for stakeholders to quickly see overlaps, gaps, and duplications, enabling more efficient use of time and resources.
  • A shared evidence base that helps decision-makers and policymakers understand the bigger picture, supporting more coherent strategies and regulation. T
  • he foundation for future use of AI and advanced analytics to identify trends, streamline engagement, and anticipate emerging issues.
  • Ultimately, a cultural shift: moving from fragmentation and duplication towards collaboration and clarity — helping to ensure lessons from Grenfell are acted on and that risks of future tragedies are reduced.

Success for the first stage would be:

  • A systems map, at a suitable level of detail
  • A shared understanding of the questions that the tracker will be used to address
  • A recommendation on how the next step, of developing a prototype tracker, can be addressed.

Project description

Develop a smart tracker to enable stakeholders to know who is doing what in the fire safety field, reduce duplication, and enhance coordinated engagement between government and regulators.

How will this project benefit the organisation?

This project (and the change of the purpose of the Confederation) was born out of the confusion and fragmentation exposed so starkly by the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry. Multiple organisations, regulators and departments are often pulled into overlapping meetings, with duplicated agendas and no single way to see the whole picture. By creating a clear, visual tracker of who meets, why, and about what, we can cut through this complexity.

The result will be a tool that saves time, improves coordination, and strengthens accountability across the entire fire and construction safety communities. For volunteers, the benefit is clear: your expertise will directly help transform a fragmented system into one that learns, collaborates and acts with clarity—contributing in a tangible way to preventing the conditions that allowed Grenfell to happen again.

Finally, many government departments, including the building safety regulator, would find real value in being able to use a tracker or intelligence matrix of this nature. It is our belief that, once created, they will then be incentivised to help keep it up to date and create a virtuous circle.

How to apply:

If you feel you are able to offer your assistance please complete the application form and return along with your CV to [email protected] by Monday 24 November 2025.   

For further information about Fire Sector Confederation, please visit  https://www.firesectorfederation.co.uk/.

Desired start date

TBC

Desired end date

TBC

About Pro Bono OR

For further information about Pro Bono OR, please visit or email [email protected]

This project requires expertise in complex systems, networks management, and operational research to create a dynamic model of interactions. It is not a simple cataloguing exercise.

We are therefore looking for operational research volunteers who can bring methods and insights to help us make sense of this complexity and build a tool that has real impact. This is a large project which may be better approached by a team with complementary skills and experience, where different skills will be required at different stages, so if you are interested, please let us know how you think you could help.

Time commitment:  The time commitment will be agreed between the volunteers and organization when completing the project proposal.

Timeframe: The project will launch in December with a desired completion date of April 2026.

There may be scope to extend the deadline, depending on progress.

Location:  This work can be completed remotely.