Public Safety Analytics R [and] D Roadmap
Ryan Felts, Marc Leh, Tracy A. McElvaney · 2016
The public safety community is in a period of great transition.Over the next 20 years, technology advancements will increase accessibility of data/video applications to public safety, and allow for the eventual migration of voice communications from disparate Land Mobile Radio (LMR) networks to a nationwide Long Term Evolution (LTE) broadband network, the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN).Emerging technologies within this new infrastructure present opportunities and challenges for public safety, and the process of modernizing responder communications requires significant coordination and planning.To facilitate the transition from LMR to LTE, the Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program initiated a research and development (R&D) planning process to determine what technology investments are of highest priority to the public safety community.The Public Safety Analytics R&D Roadmap is the second in a series of technology roadmaps that PSCR will develop over the next few years to better inform the investment decisions of R&D organizations supporting the public safety community.This document aims to assist in planning for public safety communications research and optimize the allocation of the $300 million apportioned to NIST from the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012.The NIST R&D funds were raised from the AWS-3 spectrum auction, which concluded in January 2015.This report intends to outline the current state of analytics technologies, forecast the evolution of analytics capabilities and gaps, and identify potential R&D opportunities that would improve public safety's use of data analytics within operational settings.After conducting additional roadmaps in other priority technology areas, PSCR will identify the R&D project ideas that pose the greatest operational benefit to public safety and prioritize its Public Safety R&D program accordingly.Given the scope of technology under consideration and level of effort required to deliver enhanced data analytics to public safety, PSCR hopes that these findings and recommendations will not only address technical barriers to adoption and accelerate innovation, but also provide opportunities to engage and inform stakeholders across all levels of government, industry, and academia.The roadmap was drafted by soliciting input from technology experts, end-users, and researchers across government, public safety, industry, and academia.This cross-disciplinary approach enabled PSCR to evaluate existing R&D efforts, potential partnerships, and future projects against public safety's unique set of priorities, requirements, and long-term goals.After reading this report, organizations will understand: The trends and drivers affecting public safety, public safety broadband, and the analytics technology domain. The projected evolution of analytics software, applications, devices and networks over the next 20 years. The enabled operational capabilities that public safety stands to gain by adopting the forecasted analytics technology capabilities.