Across all industries, professionals have recognized drones for their ability to drive efficiency, cut costs, and increase safety for personnel. As drone technology adoption grows, so does the complexity of the drone projects themselves. Simultaneously understanding regulations for specific projects, learning how to use the right system for your team, and ensuring client demands are met can feel like an overwhelming amount of responsibility for one team. But it doesn't have to.

In the Commercial UAV Expo Keynote session, “Breaking Silos, Building Skies: The Power of Collaboration in UAS,” experts will break down practical strategies to collaborate across the industry to relieve that pressure.

Panelists representing both the service provider and industry specialist side will discuss how they leverage collaboration to build productive partnerships, align on project outcomes without being an expert in everything, and navigate BVLOS regulations with confidence. In a conversation moderated by Chris Fleming, CEO of Cyberhawk, panelists Scott Lashmit, UAS aviation manager at Cyberhawk; Nitin Gupta, founder & CEO of Flytbase; and Michelle Duquette, founder & CEO of 3 MAD Air will share their success stories and give tips on how to utilize collaboration in the dynamic field of unmanned aviation.

Recognizing that technology is advancing rapidly and collaboration will look different in the future, the keynote conversation will be divided into two parts. First, panelists will discuss how they’ve worked with agencies across the industry to get to where they are today. Their stories will draw upon their combined experience in drone-in-a-box services that run on AI based platforms, advising on the FAA regulatory landscape, and using drones in the energy and utilities sector.

Attendees will hear about real collaboration lessons between drone services providers and their customers, with a focus on the idea that it takes a village to get a project done properly and efficiently. To do that, you need to reach out to other organizations for help. Between working with clients’ needs, getting approvals to fly, flying the drone, collecting data, analyzing it, and delivering it neatly to client, expecting one person or group to be experts in all those areas is unrealistic. Panelists will explain how they recognize when to reach out beyond their organization in order to best serve their client.

Collaboration in drone operations takes on different forms and can exist such as using software designed by an external group, fostering a strong relationship with the FAA and local policy makers to help get approvals, or by simply having constant communication with the client to make sure a project is on the right track.

But what could the future of collaboration look like?

The second part of the keynote panel conversation will dive into this question. Considering the ever-advancing AI platforms, collaboration of the future will look a bit different.

“With AI, collaboration goes to a whole new level,” stated Gupta. “Now it’s possible to have a large number of systems deployed at scale where AI is managing and controlling all of these systems to collect data and analyze it, all while acting on the real world.”

Apart from the humans in the loop learning to integrate AI into their everyday work, the other side of that coin is getting existing software to collaborate with AI platforms as well. How do you smoothly incorporate an autonomous system to assist what is currently working for your team but can give it that extra boost?

On this final note, panelists will reveal how we can best prepare for this advancement in collaboration for the future.

This keynote session will be open to all Commercial UAV Expo attendees.