Highlights from the 2022 Public Safety Broadband Stakeholder Meeting

Thank you to all of our attendees for yet another successful Public Safety Broadband Stakeholder Meeting! This work would not be possible without your efforts, involvement, and dedication to improving first responder communications. Below are a few highlights from San Diego: 

Day one

Day one of PSCR 2022 opened with keynote speaker Richard Carizzo, Vice Chair of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Board. Chief Carizzo reflected on his time in fire and emergency service, provided updates on behalf of FirstNet, and spoke about the ways PSCR and FirstNet are collaborating to further innovate emergency communications technology.

Day one also included the announcement of the Mobile Fingerprinting Technology (mFIT) prize challenge winners and over $300K was awarded! First place came in with a two-way tie between Idemia and Telos. In third place was a three-way tie between IDENTY, the Slapshot SDK Team, and T3K & TeelTech. The First Responders Choice award was granted to Idemia and Telos and the Innovation award was granted to BlueBible, ENGR Dynamics, and Tech 5. 

Day two

On day two, six of our Pulse Accelerator businesses presented their pitches: Reggie Ash with Caliola, Michael Marino with ESGI Technologies, Kyle Bishop with Little Arms Studios, Rod Goossen with RoGo Communications, Maciej Stachura with Blackswift technologies, and Lauren Schluzas with Bio1 Systems. After each pitch, the speakers received feedback from our public safety and communication technology panelists. Conference attendees were also able to provide feedback via the PSCR 2022 mobile app. 

When asked how PSCR 2022 affected Rod Goossen and his innovation efforts, he stated, “Multifold… It’s validated the need, validated the drive, and revived the passion for innovating these new ideas into our current system so we can provide and serve first responders.” 

During all three days of the conference, there were more than 25 technology demonstrations available to view and interact with. These demos have been evolving and developing since our last in person conference more than two years ago.

Day three

On day three of the conference, four international panelists were introduced: Geoff Spring from Australia, Sirilal Mallawa-Arachchi from New Zealand, Guillaume Lambert from France, and Joe Fournier from Canada. These panelists shared ways their countries are building broadband services for public safety and what country-specific details they need to consider for successful implementation. 

All three conference days also included afternoon campfire-style breakout sessions which provided a conversational atmosphere between innovators, academia, and first responders. These campfire sessions relied solely on the participation of our stakeholders to engage in conversation with one another. The goal of these sessions was to collect key findings across all PSCR research portfolios to inform future areas of research. 

Luke Hawkins, FireMedic with Mountain View Fire Rescue shared, “The highlight [of this conference] is being able to talk [to innovators] and figure out their struggles. Then we can provide our boots on the ground perspective, finding a middle ground for doing business together and bringing our industry into the future.”

We’re still determining details for what next year’s conference will look like! To stay tuned for the latest updates and sign up for the PSCR Newsletter.