Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

PSCR Webinar Series

To provide more frequent research updates to stakeholders, PSCR hosts a bi-monthly webinar series featuring topic deep dives on popular projects from our research portfolios. Webinars will be recorded, and participants join live will have the opportunity to Q&A with webinar speakers. Webinar recordings will be posted to the PSCR website and made available to the public in the days following the event.

Check this page regularly to view upcoming webinar dates, times, and topics. Want to suggest a webinar topic? Tell us what you want to hear about by emailing pscr [at] nist.gov (subject: PSCR%27s%20Webinar%20Series) (pscr[at]nist[dot]gov).

Past webinar recordings

Webinar name Description
Privacy and
Public Records:
Perils and possible solutions of releasing
public safety records
December 6, 2023 - Public safety agencies generate and store many records that are valuable to the public. Computer-aided dispatch (CAD), 911 calls, and first responder reports all contain information that can be valuable to the public and policy makers. Yet, these records often contain personal information of individuals that agencies have ethical or legal obligations to protect. Agencies may wonder, isn’t redaction enough to release data? (hint: no!). Read about the speaker here. 
En Route to 5x5: What to Expect May 16, 2023 - NIST's PSC Division Chief Dereck Orr, The First Responder Network Authority's Chief Market Engagement Officer Jeremy Zollo, and Seattle Fire Department's Assistant Chief Chris Lombard will provide an overview of what to expect at 5x5: The Public Safety Innovation Summit. Read about the speakers here. 
After Action Report: 2016-2022 PSCR Impacts February 9, 2023 - PSCR Division Chief Dereck Orr provides an overview of PSCR's 2016-2022 Impact Assessment Report Executive Summary. He provides a summary of what led PSCR to receive $300M from the Middle Class Tax Relief & Job Creation Act, and the leading indicators PSCR uses to measure the program's success. Then, Mr. Orr reviews the program-level and portfolio-specific accomplishments and impacts of the $300 million. Finally, he previews the full impacts report which will be published in spring 2023. Read about the speakers here.
The History & Future of the PSCR Drone Program November 17, 2022 - NIST PSCR's Terese Manley and Don Harriss discuss the history and impacts of the PSCR drone program to date. Additionally, they provide updates on the UAS Indoor Challenge and discuss the future of the PSCR drone program. Read about the speakers here.
NIST & the FirstNet Authority's Public Safety Immersive Test Center

September 8, 2022 - NIST PSCR's Joe Grasso and Scott Ledgerwood provide an overview of the new Public Safety Immersive Test Center (PSITC) in Boulder, Colorado. They are joined by the FirstNet Authority's Jennifer Harder and Randy Kerr to discuss the future of the PSITC. Read about the speakers here.

PSCR 2022 Pecha Kucha Portfolios Overview May 18, 2022 - NIST PSCR's Research Portfolio Leads provide an overview of the projects housed within their portfolio, and which sessions you can attend at PSCR 2022. Each portfolio overview is delivered in a traditional Pecha Kucha-style presentation, dividing topics into 20 slides that when presented display for only 20 seconds each. 
PSCR 2022: 10 Years in the Making April 20, 2022 - NIST PSCR hosts an annual Public Safety Broadband Stakeholder Meeting that brings together representatives from public safety, federal agencies, industry, and academia. The annual stakeholder meeting enables PSCR to receive direct input, guidance, and feedback from their diverse stakeholder community. During this webinar, PSCR Division Chief Dereck Orr provides an overview of the history of PSCR. Then, PSCR Program Support Specialist Kerianne Gibney provides an overview of this year's Public Safety Broadband Stakeholder Meeting. Read about the speakers here
Voices of First Responders: PSCR's Survey Analyzer Tool in Action January 27, 2022 - NIST PSCR conducted a series of in-depth interviews with approximately 200 first responders about their views on communication technology. PSCR’s Usability Team recently developed a Survey Analyzer tool to create interactive graphs and tables to display these survey results and export visualizations. In this webinar, Yee-Yin Choong, Shanée Dawkins, and Kerrianne Buchanan discuss the history of the Voices of First Responders project, and large-scale survey and in-depth interviews that PSCR conducted with first responders across the U.S. about their communications technology use. Read about the speakers here
Cybersecurity in Public Safety October 21, 2021 - Security, including cybersecurity, is an area which affects every aspect of public safety communications. In this webinar, PSCR's Security Portfolio lead, John Beltz, discusses the transition that is taking place in public safety communications technology to solve interoperability issues, and the R&D that is under way to ensure that transition is happening securely. Mr. Beltz is joined by PSCR Prize Challenge Manager, Gary Howarth, to discuss the new Mobile Fingerprinting Innovation Technology (mFIT) Challenge. Read about the speakers here
UAS Triple Challenge: Drones for First Responders August 24, 2021 - The First Responder UAS Triple Challenge is an exciting prize competition, with a total of $720K in awards, to help save lives faster and support advancing first responder search and rescue (SAR) operations. This webinar features PSCR Division Chief Dereck Orr as speaking with Michael Ogata (PSCR), Tom Brooks (MSU), Roger Blalock (PSCR), and Kurt Barnhart (KSU) about the UAS Triple Challenge and the importance of drones for the future of public safety. Read about the speakers here
The Road to PSCR 2021 May 26, 2021 - If you're new to PSCR, this session is for you! Hear a detailed program history from PSCR's Division Chief, Dereck Orr, and an introduction to the features of PSCR 2021 The Digital Experience. Read about the speakers here
Building Apps for Mass Casualty Events and Triage February 25, 2021 - In this webinar, PSCR Prize Challenge Manager Gary Howarth speaks with Tech to Protect contestants, Britt Jensen and Francis Li of Peak Response, diving into topics related to the app they've built for mass casualty incidents. This panel discussion gives an insider look to the development process and user experience considerations of building apps for public safety, and what it was like to build trust with first responders during the coronavirus pandemic and peak wild fire season. Read about the speakers here
Using Lasers to Save Lives December 9, 2020 - PSCR hosted a webinar featuring PSIAP-Point Cloud City award recipients, who gave an overview of indoor mapping for public safety. In this webinar, presenters went into detail about how lidar and video object classification can be combined to create 3D point cloud visual representations. The end result makes it easier for first responders to navigate inside unknown buildings. Read about the speakers here
5G for Public Safety  October 21, 2020 - PSCR hosted a webinar on 5G for Public Safety to give an overview of what 5G will bring to first responders, security challenges and opportunities, and relevant 5G use cases. Read about the speakers here
PSCR 101 to PSCR 2020: A Program History and Intro to the Digital Experience June 16, 2020 - Since 2010, PSCR has held an annual Stakeholder Meeting to receive direct input, guidance, and feedback from public safety stakeholders across sectors. In this webinar, hear a detailed program history from PSCR's Division Chief, Dereck Orr and an introduction to the features of PSCR 2020: The Digital Experience from Brianna Vendetti, PSCR Program Support Specialist. Read about the speakers here
3 Year Progress Report - Research and Programmatic Updates April 22, 2022 - PSCR's mission is to bring advanced capabilities to first responders and have a measurable impact on their ability to protect and save lives and property. In this webinar, PSCR's Division Chief, Dereck Orr and Prize Competition and Challenge Specialist, Jeremy Glenn summarize PSCR's most exciting research impacts over the last three years. Read about the speakers here
Using Prize Challenges to Drive Innovation March 31, 2022 - In this webinar, Open Innovation team lead, Ellen Ryan discusses what a government prize challenge entails and how the division uses this mechanism to drive innovation for public safety communications. Prize Challenge Manager, Sarah Hughes, gives an overview of recently launched prize challenges. Read about the speakers here
Augmented Reality for Public Safety February 27, 2020 - Augmented reality (AR) has been around for decades, but recent technological advances render it invaluable to improving public safety operations. In this webinar, PSCR's UI/UX lead, Scott Ledgerwood dives into AR's potential role in supporting first responders' operations. Read about the speakers here.
IoT Foundations for First Responders  December 11, 2019 - How can public safety best prepare for and leverage next-generation IoT sensor and data collection capabilities? In this webinar, PSCR's Alison Kahn covers IoT's ability to help public safety operations. Read about the speakers here
Enhanced Authentication for Public Safety

October 17, 2019 - PSCR serves to develop and enhance security solutions to current and future public safety communications. Security, including cybersecurity, is an area which will affect every aspect of public safety communications. During this webinar, a panel of cybersecurity experts will cover: an overview of PSCR's security portfolio, single sign-on, PSCR's SIM Card Challenge, and possibilities in biometric authentication. Read about the speakers here

Stay up-to-date with PSCR's webinar series by subscribing to our mailing list.

Created September 16, 2019, Updated December 13, 2023