The Civic Air Transport Association (www.CIVATAglobal.org) has started work today supporting rural and city authorities to assess, manage and adopt increasingly complex unmanned air system (UAS) services by creating a knowledge transfer community of governing bodies and the aviation industry, according to an association press release.
“CIVATAglobal is the global trade association of the advanced air mobility (AAM) and urban air mobility (UAM) sectors,” says the association’s Director General Andrew Charlton, “bringing together cities and industries in a single global community. CIVATAglobal has an ambitious work programme so that from day one members will be engaged in presenting a common voice to regulators and policy makers, developing guidance material, organising events and identifying and promulgating best-practice procedures in areas such as community engagement and environmental protection.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has in many ways been a catalyst for the drone industry, highlighting the potential for drones to deliver vital medical supplies and help sanitise public areas in a cost-effective and safe way,” says Charlton. “Cities and communities around the world have seen the benefits these new technologies can deliver – it is vital that these experiences are built-upon now rather than dissipate so we can develop more complex drone delivery and first-responder operations while paving the way for future air taxi flights.”
The association’s immediate work programme is to:
• To represent the industry to policy makers and regulators
• Develop new guidance material for extending drone operations in cities and communities based on the experience of COVID-19 missions and doing so with public support
• Develop a network of pioneering civic centres where mature drone operations have been established and best practices developed. The association will invite interested representatives from cities worldwide to see for themselves civic drone operations in action. Visitors will have an opportunity to meet all the stakeholder groups who have had an input into establishing civic drone services – drone operators, police and first responders, aviation authorities, local community groups, aviation safety experts, drone operations customers (retailers/hospitals/labs) etc – to fully understand how to set up drone operations in their own cities.
• Start work on developing standards and best-practices for local authorities to consider when setting-up UAS operations in areas such as data privacy and general data protection regulations, rogue drone detection, charging and electricity supply and local-authority derived aeronautical information.
“There is an urgent need, now, for local government and industry to start working together, to learn from each other and to engage with communities and regulators worldwide to ensure the industry develops in a safe, cost-effective and beneficial way, with the support of the communities it will serve,” says Charlton.
For more information
www.civataglobal.org