Turning Uncertainty Into Safety: Why I Built EvacTracker

From EvacTracker Founder, Dr. Rashid Khan

Some ideas are born in boardrooms. EvacTracker was born in moments of fear, confusion, and unanswered questions.

The first defining moment happened when I was nine years old. A catastrophic fire erupted at an ammunition depot near my home in Pakistan. Sirens, smoke, panic, no instructions, no guidance, no one telling us what to do next. In that chaos, I instinctively gathered a group of children and led them away from danger. We didn’t have a plan. We just knew staying still wasn’t an option.

What stayed with me wasn’t just the fire; it was the absence of information. No clarity. No direction. Just fear filling the gaps where communication should have been.

Years later, after building a career in data and analytics in Australia, that childhood memory resurfaced in a very different setting. I was working in Melbourne in 2017 when a violent incident unfolded just outside our office. From above, we watched crowds scatter, emergency vehicles arrive, and uncertainty spread through the city. Inside the building, people were asking the same questions I remembered from years before:

Is it safe to leave? Should we stay put? What’s actually happening?

Once again, the problem wasn’t a lack of technology; it was a lack of clear, real-time information reaching the people who needed it most. That was the moment I realised something important: we respond to emergencies with outdated systems in a real-time world.

We have smartphones in our pockets, live traffic updates, instant messaging, yet in emergencies, people are often left guessing. Static evacuation plans, generic alerts, and one-way communication simply don’t reflect how fast situations evolve.

At its core, EvacTracker is about using real-time data to help people make better decisions when seconds matter. Not broad announcements. Not assumptions. But personalised, location-aware guidance that adapts as situations change.

It’s about giving individuals confidence instead of confusion, whether they’re in an office building, a public space, or navigating a personal safety threat. It’s also about enabling two-way communication, so emergency teams don’t just broadcast information, but receive it, allowing them to respond more effectively and dynamically.

For me, this isn’t just a technology problem- it’s a human one. In moments of crisis, people don’t panic because they’re incapable. They panic because they don’t know what’s happening. When information is clear, timely, and relevant, behaviour changes. Calm replaces chaos. Movement becomes purposeful.

That belief has shaped every decision behind EvacTracker. From how alerts are delivered, to how discreet safety modes work, to how trusted contacts can be notified when visibility or attention could put someone at risk.

I didn’t build EvacTracker to disrupt an industry. I built it because I’ve lived through what happens when communication fails. I’ve seen how quickly uncertainty can turn dangerous and how powerful clarity can be.

If EvacTracker helps even one person feel more informed, more confident, or more protected during an emergency, then it’s doing exactly what it was designed to do. Because safety shouldn’t depend on guesswork.

And in a world driven by data, no one should be left in the dark when it matters most.