COTAK News

Recently, we received several requests for data integrations into COTAK that may be of interest to our user community, but are outside the scope of our main channel plan. These integrations include the locations of all aircraft (civilian and public safety) operating over Colorado, USGS Stream Gauge locations and their status, and more.

Typically COTAK users are assigned their channels (and any data integrations tied to those channels) by you, the agency administrator, or by the COTAK program team for mutual aid and interoperability. Now to accommodate these new integrations we have developed a new tool at cotak.gov called “Self Serve Channels.” Any COTAK user can log into cotak.gov, and on the homepage use the Self Serve Channels widget to join or leave channels. Any changes a user makes will be reflected in their channels list on their TAK apps.

These self serve channels will always be ‘read-only’ and will not share your location with other users when turned on, and will always tie to a data feed or integration of some kind. The COTAK program team will add more of these channels as requests for data integrations come in from our users involving open, statewide, data that may be of use to COTAK users who wish to gain additional information. To request integrations with COTAK file a ticket at cotak.gov/support

CloudTAK (map.cotak.gov) now supports a dark mode, for nighttime operations or simply for reducing eye strain. To turn on dark mode in your settings select "Display Preferences" and find the preference for "Light/Dark Style."

New base maps have also been made available for CloudTAK. These maps are 'data defined' instead of being simply images, and are more efficient to load and enable advanced features, such as the labels rotating if you change the direction the map is pointing. To find a data defined map look for the "square with 4 points" icon next to the basemap (as opposed to the trifold map icon, which indicates a traditional image-based map).

• These new maps include the "Commander" map which uses Open Street Map data, and automatically changes color as you switch from light to dark mode in CloudTAK. This map also includes 3D buildings when CloudTAK is tiled into 3D over select areas of Colorado as well as building addresses.

• The COTREX map has also been added, which features a topographic map and rich data on trails curated by Colorado Parks & Wildlife. To view these maps simply open the basemaps tool in CloudTAK and click on the map of your choice.
  

Thank you to the more than 150 public safety professionals who attended, presented, and supported the inaugural COTAK Summit. The event provided an important opportunity to share operational experiences, explore emerging capabilities, and strengthen relationships across agencies and disciplines. We are grateful for your partnership and look forward to building on this momentum as we continue advancing situational awareness and interoperability for Colorado’s first responders. We can’t wait to see you next year!