On August 31, PSHSB will welcome Dereck Orr from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as our latest headliner in the Bureau’s Speaker Series. The Speaker Series brings representatives from other government agencies to the FCC to speak about their work involving public safety and homeland security. Dereck is the program manager for Public Safety Communications Systems in the Office of Law Enforcement Standards. The Public Safety Communications Systems program focuses on leading the development of wireless telecommunications and information technology standards, profiles and guidelines for interoperability and information sharing among criminal justice and public safety agencies at local, state and federal levels.
Dereck has a very impressive background and is enthusiastic about how his office can advance the communications capabilities of the nation’s first responders. He has been at NIST for eight years, and during that time, he was detailed for a short time to serve as Chief of Staff for SAFECOM. Because of this experience and many others, he has unique insight into public safety’s unique communications needs.
We are excited to have Dereck speak with us about NIST’s role in improving public safety communications across the nation as well as his office’s role in the Commission’s newly created Emergency Response Interoperability Center (ERIC). We have worked closely with NIST in the past, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with them well into the future.
I look forward to seeing you for this stimulating presentation and discussion on Tuesday, August 31 from 10:00am-11:30am ET in the Commission Meeting Room. This event will also be streamed live and you can watch it at FCC.gov/live .