For years, we have been covering INVOLI, a company based in Lausanne, Switzerland that has been a pioneer and innovator in the development of aviation surveillance systems and data to support advanced drone operations. From day one, it was clear that Manu Lubrano, CEO of INVOLI, and his team had the correct approach to make sure that crewed and uncrewed aviation have the necessary information during flight to avoid each other.

Now, in a significant step forward for drone operations safety and reliability, INVOLI, announced on April 15 a strategic partnership with ResilienX, an expert in monitoring the performance and integrity of services like INVOLI's. This collaboration marks the completion of a technical integration between INVOLI's data services and ResilienX's monitoring solutions, offering a groundbreaking advancement for drone operators worldwide.

We reached out to Manu for his opinion on the announcement.

"Our collaboration with ResilienX is a game-changer for the drone industry. We are now able to offer an aviation surveillance solution that bridges the gap between cost and quality, ensuring that safety-critical operations can be conducted without the heavy investment in aviation-certified systems," said Manu.

The partnership aims to address a critical gap in the drone operation industry: the need for affordable yet reliable surveillance solutions. Aviation-certified solutions, while offering the pinnacle of reliability, come with a price tag beyond the reach of many industry players like drone operators, UTM service providers, drone test centers, or municipalities implementing Urban Air Mobility. Recognizing this, INVOLI and ResilienX have combined their expertise to develop a performance-based system that maintains a level of quality and reliability conducive to safe, critical operations such as autonomous and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations, all at a fraction of the cost.

“We are realizing that a traffic information service needs to be performant but also accessible to drone operators,” Manu reiterated. “The reliability is ensured by an external company like ResilienX, so that drone operators don’t need to build control capabilities in-house. Furthermore, our performance-based approach allows us to provide our service at an accessible cost."

This partnership not only signifies a technical milestone but also reinforces INVOLI and ResilienX's commitment to innovating accessible and dependable solutions for the drone industry. INVOLI's customers can now benefit from enhanced safety and reliability in their operations, ensuring that drone flights are safer, more efficient, and more reliable than ever before. The technical integration of ResilienX has been specifically designed to continuously monitor the application of ASTM F3623-23 standard (“Standard Specification for Surveillance Supplementary Data Service Providers”) by the INVOLI surveillance system.

When asked about the potential availability of the solution to general aviation and uncrewed aircraft, Manu was specific.

“The service is now available for implementation to all customers looking to leverage the integrated solution offered by INVOLI and ResilienX. This initiative is expected to set new standards in drone operation safety, opening new possibilities for drone applications in various sectors,” Manu said.

If we take into account that before we fully integrate crewed and uncrewed aviation in the National Airspace (NAS) we, as an industry, need to perfect and monitor not only UTM but also Detect and Avoid (DAA) in order for the regulator, in this case the Federal Aviation Administration in the US and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), to open the door for BVLOS flights.