PSCR UAS Working Group

Overview

Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) are revolutionizing the way that public safety prevents, mitigates, and responds to emergency incidents in a way that reduces response times, protects first responders, and improves outcomes for society.

 In general, UAS for public safety applications rely on two major technological developments: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and increasing levels of connectivity. However, the rapid pace of development has outstripped society’s ability to fully understand and manage the unique risks associated with these technologies. As a result, the patchwork of organizational and local risk management policies can vary immensely, resulting in technological use without appreciation of the risks incurred, or technological avoidance altogether, depriving public safety personnel and the community of capabilities that could improve their safety and well-being.

In this context, PSCR is leading a project to understand and improve the overall level of cybersecurity and AI risk management (CSAIRM) within the UAS ecosystem to inform and support public safety UAS programs. Through collaborative development with public safety officials and AI and cybersecurity subject matter experts, this project aims to create and equip public safety organizations with information to implement and operate UAS programs with an appreciation of and approach towards managing these novel risks. 

Project Progress

2025

Beginning in early 2025, as both the technological and regulatory landscapes continue to rapidly evolve, PSCR will progress by interviewing public safety officials, including UAS program coordinators, pilots, leadership, IT personnel, and other relevant stakeholders, to further explore the baseline approaches to AI and cybersecurity risk management within UAS across a diverse array of public safety organizations. Leveraging this information, PSCR will engage with a community of experts to develop and refine guidance materials for public safety and UAS program leadership to understand their risk posture related to AI and cybersecurity and make informed decisions regarding UAS program implementation.

2024

In February 2024, PSCR hosted a workshop with a wide array of UAS stakeholders, including public safety end users and management, academia, and developers, with aims of understanding collective capabilities and challenges and developing the foundations of guidance materials for UAS programs to assess their risk management posture. Learn more about the workshop at the links below:

• Workshop reading list
• Workshop outcomes
• Event page
• Related publications: 
  • Autonomous Cybersecurity and AI Risk Management for Uncrewed Systems: Challenges and Opportunities Using the NIST Frameworks
  • Autonomous Aerial Drones Connecting Public Safety: Opportunities and Challenges for the Future

This website will continue to be updated as progress on this project continues. Those interested in participation are encouraged to reach out directly to psprizes [at] nist.gov (psprizes[at]nist[dot]gov).