Australian tech sharpens UK incident response

Australian crisis management software developer Chronosoft has grown steadily in the UK since 2021. Its software suite has been chosen to coordinate major national occasions, including the world’s largest no-notice public event, the Queen’s funeral, and subsequently the King’s coronation. 

Today, Chronosoft technology is used as a collaboration and resilience-building tool by 101 agencies in London alone, and the number keeps growing.

Founder and Managing Director Edward Swete Kelly says the Austrade Landing Pads program and the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement have helped Chronosoft refine its marketing strategy and compete on equal terms as it expands beyond Australia and out across the UK.

‘The London Landing Pads program has been an invaluable step in the western half of our international growth journey,’ he says. ‘The Austrade team has enabled us to navigate the UK market with confidence and clarity. We are proud to be part of a program that genuinely accelerates Australian companies on the global stage.’ 

Home-grown technology on the global stage

Chronosoft has built a world-leading control centre, incident management, and institutional resilience solution. Founded in 2015 by former paramedics and control room commanders, the company’s software suite helps organisations coordinate their response to emergency situations, align multiple agencies to one clear goal, and log incident response for audit after the fact. 

‘Chronosoft has one, overriding aim: to help people respond faster and more efficiently to a crisis or complex event,’ says Swete Kelly. ‘Our software is used by public agencies and private organisations to manage everything from ambulance crews to police response and custodial teams.’

Supporting events of national significance 

With installations growing across Australia, Chronosoft set its sights on expansion overseas.

‘The UK is a natural fit for us,’ says Swete Kelly. ‘The way agencies work in the UK aligns closely with how they work in Australia.’

Chronosoft entered the UK market in 2019, working with major events and venues. Its first big break came in 2021. 

‘Our software was chosen by the Greater London Authority to coordinate all of the incident management activities for the funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II,’ says Swete Kelly. ‘The scale and weight of it meant we were trusted with an event of huge national importance.  

‘The fact that we were then asked to handle all of the incident management for HM King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s coronation was a major vote of confidence.’

Today the Greater London Authority uses the Chronosoft platform as a city-wide incident management tool, connecting 101 agencies across the capital. The platform gives every key response agency in the city a single place to coordinate.  

Landing Pads program helps refine strategy

To help scale in the UK, Chronosoft joined Austrade’s London Landing Pads program in 2025. The program is designed to help Australian exporters gain insider expertise in overseas markets, so they can grow more quickly. 

‘We knew what was similar between the UK and Australia, but we didn’t know what was different,’ says Swete Kelly. ‘The Landing Pads program helped us fill in the gaps.’

Swete Kelly held meetings with tax experts and joined presentations from legal experts in the business, technology and import spaces. The company also gained valuable UK-relevant marketing expertise. 

‘The Landing Pad mentoring approach was particularly helpful because it included a technology sales advisory company,’ says Swete Kelly. ‘Our mentor challenged our market positioning and that reinforced our strategic approach.

‘It is exceptionally valuable to have someone from outside your bubble check what you are doing,’ he adds. ‘The Landing Pad mentor will give you insights into what your product suite looks like to the UK market, and how to develop it to fit.’ 

The Chronosoft incident management platform is used by agencies in London and Birmingham, and the St John Ambulance in the UK.

Expansion across the UK

Success in London has triggered adoption across the UK. Chronosoft now works with high-profile clients well beyond the capital. 

Chronosoft’s expansion is driven by reputation. When Birmingham, the UK’s second largest city, went looking for an incident management and response tool, the council backed Chronosoft on the strength of its experience delivering for London. 

‘We have now implemented a single incident management system for council activities across Birmingham,’ says Swete Kelly. ‘Our approach is to start small inside the council and then expand across agencies.’

Chronosoft is also delivering a nationwide command-and-control platform for St John Ambulance England. 

‘We are about to go live with St John Ambulance,’ says Swete Kelly. ‘We will deliver the command-and-control platform for every event they attend in England. For me as an ex-paramedic who has volunteered for St John here in Australia, this is a major achievement.’

Free trade agreement provides equal access

One factor behind Chronosoft’s success is equal market access. Thanks to the ‘Government Procurement’ chapter in the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement, Australian companies can compete on an equal footing with UK companies in bids for public contracts. 

‘We can get on procurement panels as an Australian company and still compete on equal terms,’ says Swete Kelly. ‘This has helped us gain the vital contracts with the Greater London Authority, the City of Birmingham and St John Ambulance, and will only help us more as we grow.

‘The point is this: thanks to the FTA, we don’t have any issues working with the public sector in the UK.’

Austrade assistance in Europe

Austrade remains a standing resource for Chronosoft as it expands across the UK.

‘Austrade’s Landing Pads Manager has been fantastic,’ says Swete Kelly. ‘She is our conduit to new business and our first point of reference. 

‘Austrade sets up business-matching events for us. Having a regular contact at Austrade gives you confidence in how to address challenges.

‘As we grow stronger, we will build our UK team into a springboard for Europe. We hope the upcoming Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement will also give us equal access to public contracts over there. And as we expand across the continent, we will continue to lean on Austrade and use their contacts and in-market expertise.’

Tips for Australian tech exporters

Swete Kelly has the following advice for other tech exporters:

1. Lean into Austrade: they will help you discover what you do not know.
2. Use your network: that’s how you build business.
3. Reputation counts: in the UK public sector, buyers check who you have already delivered for.