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The Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Division of NIST accelerates innovation by investing in research to transform the future of public safety communications, technology, and operations. On Thursday, April 16, the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) will host a virtual seminar featuring PSCR staff and researchers as they highlight the latest research on first responder communications and ways to get involved in upcoming funding opportunities. Through this seminar, attendees will:
- Learn about the Federal research developed to advance first responder communications technologies.
- Receive valuable information about upcoming funding opportunities, as well as how to get involved as a participant, partner, and/or subject matter expert.
- Gain insights on the most anticipated 2020 research news and impacts across technology areas, such as mission critical voice, location-based services, user interfaces/user experience, security, analytics, and resilient systems.
Read more about the speakers below, and join us on April 16!
Dereck Orr, PSCR Division Chief
Dereck Orr is the Division Chief for the PSCR Division at NIST's Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL). Mr. Orr has also served as the Program Manager for the PSCR program since 2002, and he has led the trajectory of the PSCR’s research and impact by working closely with first responders, governments, academia, and industry.
Ellen Ryan, PSCR Deputy Division Chief and Open Innovation Team Lead
Ellen Ryan is the Deputy Division Chief for the PSCR Division at NIST. She develops and manages best-practice processes for the division in operational areas such as lab deployment, safety, and security. In addition, she leads the PSCR Open Innovation (OI) team. Ellen's background is in operations, systems verification, and new product development, with over 20 years of industry experience in telecommunications research and development.
Scott Ledgerwood, PSCR User Interface / User Experience Research Team Lead
Scott Ledgerwood's work is focused on improving usability and user interface testing for first responders. His team is developing new test methodologies leveraging virtual and augmented reality to enable improved research, testing, and development of first responder technologies. Prior to joining NIST in 2015, Scott worked at the DHS-CBP where he managed cybersecurity teams responsible for Risk Assessments and FISMA Compliance.