Two of the most popular and important topics in the UAV world - Regulations and ROI – were the focus of the keynote presentations on Day 2 of Commercial UAV Expo.
Starting off the session, Lisa Ellman, Executive Director of the Commercial Drone Alliance, spoke with Jody Baker, Deputy Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety at the FAA. In a wide ranging conversation, the two discussed recent progress in drone regulations and how the FAA is working to advance the industry.
Ellman noted that there has been “a lot of frustration” among drone professionals around regulations in recent years, but “over the last year, we have seen a lot of progress.” Baker concurred and explained the many ways that the FAA has taken steps to streamline processes and enable more – and more complex - commercial drone operations.
Baker stated that the FAA approaches drone regulations in terms of maintaining a “safety continuum” and seeks to “learn by doing” as it crafts policy. Based on these principles, Baker reported that, over the past year, the agency has improved the exemptions process, increased the use of summary grants, taken steps to enable more public safety agencies to adopt uncrewed systems, supported research into UTM, and promoted drone-focused education.
These advances, Baker stated, come from an acknowledgement at the FAA that a different approach was needed to address the specific concerns and challenges of the drone sector and take into account that industry has changed significantly in recent years.
“We recognized that we don't necessarily have to have the same level of rigor at different places in the safety continuum,” Baker said.
Baker also stated that “we were probably imposing risk controls, either through exemption or labor, that were maybe more restrictive than they needed to be.” Moreover, she said, “we now have five years since the first 135 certificate, and some of the things that we put into conditions and limitations on those original 135 certificates we could probably start backing off of now that the technology's evolved.”
During the conversation, Baker touted her agency’s progress concerning drones in farming operations. “We streamlined our process for certifying partner 37 agricultural operators,” she reported. “A year ago, we had 178 of them. As of yesterday, we had 1,004.” In addition, Baker said that the FAA has “issued over 2,000 exemptions to different kinds of agricultural cultural operations.”
Perhaps the biggest issue on the minds of Expo attendees concerns the FAA’s progress on Part 108, and Baker addressed the issue, asserting that part 108 “remains one of the top priorities of the FAA.” Baker went on to say, “We are doing our best to keep shepherding it through the system” and “We're still targeting for the end of the year to get that NPR out there.”
The next segment of the keynote presentation focused on how to implement and derive real value from drone programs in public agencies and enterprises. Moderated by Commercial UAV News Content Manager Carla Lauter, “The Secret to Success for Public & Enterprise Drone Programs: Intentional Implementation for Scalable Adoption” conversation featured Randy Macchi, Houston (TX) Public Works, and Joshua Fredrikkson, Pacific Gas & Electric.
Both Macchi and Fredrikkson explained their philosophies around introducing and implementing new technologies and systems. Fredrikkson talked about the culture of innovation and empowerment at Pacific Gas Electric, which enables frontline leaders to drive drone adoption. Macchi described the tremendous responsibility entrusted in his organization to serve his community and said that this responsibility made innovation necessary.
“It's about not doing it the same way that we've always done it,” Macchi said. “When you have an opportunity in front of you to elevate your game, to solve other problems along the way, that's where you need to kind of embrace technology, that's where you need to embrace the industry, that's where you need to embrace external partners who bring their own level of expertise and can help us move along a little bit better.”
Both speakers presented examples of how drones can aid in critical data collection efforts around disasters such as hurricanes, wildfires, and power outages. Based on these experiences, they said that the value of uncrewed systems is undeniable, and that getting buy-in from government leaders, organization directors, and the general public is important to increase adoption. But what’s the best way to demonstrate the return on investment offered by drone systems?
“Go look at it,” Macchi said. “It’s as simple as that.”
The keynote session concluded with the presentation of the 2024 Eric Talley Memorial Award to Lt. Abrem Ayana of the Brookhaven, GA Police Department. Presented by AIRT / DRONERESPONDERS, the award recognizes “excellence in public safety UAS management and operations.”
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