July 2021
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This conference focused on policy and industry priorities for supporting the development of emerging drone applications across key industries - and next steps in the development of airspace management systems that enable expansion for the drone sector and use cases.
The seminar was an opportunity to discuss the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act and its planned reform to the management of airspace and air traffic services - as well as the European drones regulation that came into force at the end of 2020, much of which the UK is mirroring in its own regulation policies.
We were very pleased to be able to include in this conference a keynote session with Robert Courts MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for Transport, as well as further keynote contributions from Chief Inspector Simon Bachelor, Legislation and Policy Lead, Counter Drones, National Police Chiefs’ Council; and Dave Pankhurst, Head of Drone Solutions, BT Enterprise.
The agenda brought out latest thinking on:
- regulating drone activity - tackling the misuse of unmanned aircraft, plans to harmonise the UK approach with new EU directives, and standardising drone rules across commercial and leisure sectors
- sector development - latest thinking on use cases in logistics, construction, defence, telecoms, and energy, as well as business models and communicating value to potential industry partners
- drone insurance provision - addressing regulatory and technological barriers, and setting out a robust enforcement framework
- drones and the Government’s policy agenda - sector opportunities in the context of:
- increased support for UK R&D
- the geospatial and location data strategy
- land management priorities
- the new defence strategy
- ambitions for a green aviation revolution
The agenda
- Progress on the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act, and opportunities for establishing safe use of drone technology, and leading internationally on regulation setting and industry development
- Reducing inappropriate use - assessing policy options for future enforcement power and safeguards
- Adapting to increased drone use - modernising airspace management, coordinating operability alongside aviation, and refining systems to enable drone commerce and transport services
- Designing effective commercial models and integrating European drone regulation - standardising rules and regulation, and developing the underpinning insurance framework to support innovation
- Reducing barriers - commercialising materials and technology, harnessing location and geospatial data, developing business cases for asset management and utilities, and communicating cost-saving and efficiency opportunities
- Unlocking the potential of commercial drone operations in the UK and competing as a sector leader on the global stage
Key areas for discussion:
The Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act:
- policy priorities - what is needed for an airspace management system for UAS technology, and priorities for implementing the Act, including:
- regulation - ensuring that it allows room for innovation, and also establishes the UK’s leadership in rules setting
- communicating change - making sure aviation authorities and stakeholders are clear on the changes to rules and guidance, and how it affects them
- mirroring European rule standardisation - communicating changes around user registration systems, and streamlining the treatment of drones for leisure and commercial uses
- modernising enforcement powers - next steps for tackling illegal activities and ensuring safe drone use:
- policing:
- the scope of the new powers proposed in the Act
- how powers can be tightened to enable safe drone use
- sanctions:
- best practice for exercising deterrents on unmanned aircraft and their pilots
- the application, effectiveness, and proportionality of proposed penalties and fines
- secure operability alongside aviation - reinforcing rules on drone use around airports, rolling out geo-fencing and innovative measures of defence, and ensuring risk and disruption is minimised
- balancing commercial and leisure needs:
- ensuring safety
- setting standards on UAS size and weight
- taking a long-term view on insurance needs and options
- modernising airspace management for drone commerce services
Opportunities for drone utilisation across key industries and overcoming barriers to adoption:
- pairing with data and geospatial technologies:
- maximising drone-use reliability with geospatial autonomous applications
- widening the use-case of drones for data users, location data gathering services, and better enabling transport systems and innovation
- latest thinking on utilising drones for logistics
- infrastructure and asset management:
- priorities for widening the applications of drone use for scaling up utilities inspection
- how best to increase monitoring safety and reduce costs
- what is needed to enhance long-term adoption across key infrastructure stakeholders
- unlocking benefits for rural and vulnerable communities:
- lessons learned from the use of UAS technology to deliver COVID supplies
- the applications for long-distance light commerce
- the potential role of unmanned aircraft for emergency services
Next steps for developing the UK’s drone industry and global leadership:
- reducing production costs - priorities for tailored cost reductions, including:
- innovating production processes
- integrating latest developments in low-cost materials
- advances in aerial robotics, batteries, motors, and software
- scaling regional capabilities - looking at options for:
- boosting regional innovation centre activity
- increasing the flow of goods from manufacture to market
- supporting the productive growth and recovery of regional economies
A scan of relevant developments:
- the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act - currently in the final stages in Parliament, with aims to:
- modernise the management of airspace and air traffic services
- update the powers conferred to police and air management officials for policing unmanned aircraft use, and set penalties for those violating rules concerning drone use
- remote piloting of drones approved - the decision from the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, with:
- the first trial project authorising drones to operate Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS), marking a considerable change in the way that the technology is regulated
- the Royal Mail out-of-sight autonomous drone trial flight between the UK mainland and the Isles of Scilly, as part of its plans to deliver health supplies in a trial to explore the possibility of drone technology being used to deliver to remote areas in the UK
- European drones regulation - new EU regulations which came into force at the end of 2020:
- applying a risk-based framework for commercial and leisure drone use across EU regulated skies, and standardising rules across nations as well as drone types and sizes
- with the UK mirroring much of the new initiatives despite having left the EU’s institutions
- the scale of the commercial drone sector - worldwide value found to be £15.9bn in 2020, and expected to reach more than £29.8bn by 2025, according to research from Drone Industry Insights
- initiatives for tackling illicit use-cases of drone technology:
- UK Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Strategy - the legacy strategy outlining the Government’s long-term approach
- Countering Threats from Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) - more recent guidance set by the National Counter Terrorism Security Office for addressing evolving threats from C-UAS
- The UK’s geospatial strategy 2020 to 2025 - identifying the potential of drones to contribute to optimisation of logistics worth £2bn per year, with possibilities such as:
- using satellite tracing to calculate single-flight drone insurance premiums
- wider applicability for transport services, location data gathering, and enhancing airspace management
- Future Flight Challenge:
- with £33.5m of competition funding earmarked for drone technology
- project use cases include unmanned aircraft for transporting COVID supplies, remote inspection of assets and infrastructure, humanitarian solutions, and light commerce
- Transport location data competition - the £2m project aims to support projects that utilise location data for innovating new forms of mobility, with drone technology and geo-fencing:
- supporting development of greater use cases for drone swarms and fleets
- with competition winners working in the areas of mobility as a service, active travel, supply chains, and boosting capacity
- drone technology ‘Test and Development Area’ - being launched in the City of Liverpool:
- being delivered by Drone Major Group in partnership with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA)
- aiming to for commercially viable, scalable and environmentally sustainable drone services across all surface, underwater, air, and space environments
- Tin Lid Protection Ltd achieve third party certification - from the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner:
- the first commercial drone company specialising in security for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) surveillance cameras to have been awarded the certification
- awarded for operating in line with the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, and exhibiting compliance with the criteria for the use of UAS technology proportionately, effectively, transparently and in pursuit of a legitimate aim
- UKSAR2G - the Government’s second-generation search and rescue aviation programme has invited shortlisted companies to tender for the provision of the next generation of coastguard search and rescue helicopters, planes, and remotely piloted drones
Attendees
Our forums are known for attracting strong interest from policymakers and stakeholders. Places were reserved by officials from BEIS; the Cabinet Office; Crown Commercial Services; the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport; the Department for International Trade; the Department for Transport; the Geospatial Commission; the Health and Safety Executive; HM Revenue & Customs; the Maritime and Coastguard Agency; the Military Aviation Authority; the Ministry of Defence; the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales; the UK Space Agency and the Welsh Government. As well as representatives from ARPAS-UK; Arqiva; British Airline Pilots Association; Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner; Cambridge Consultants; CGI; Collins Aerospace; Cranfield University; Crop Angel; Dentons UK and Middle East; Department for Transport; DT Economics; Egis Group; Historic England; Holland & Knight; KeolisAmey Docklands; Maes Consulting; Met Office; Ministry of Defence; Osborne Clarke; R4DAR Technologies; Royal Air Force; Safety Assessment Federation; Spirent Communications and UK Drone Watch.
Press passes were reserved by representatives from Fleet News; Satellite Evolution Group; The Scotsman and ZDNet.
